Historical Weather for the Last Twelve Months in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Weatherspark
go to original January 15, 2014

The daily low (blue) and high (red) temperature during the last 12 months with the area between them shaded gray and superimposed over the corresponding averages (thick lines), and with percentile bands (inner band from 25th to 75th percentile, outer band from 10th to 90th percentile). The bar at the top of the graph is red where both the daily high and low are above average, blue where they are both below average, and white otherwise.

This report describes the historical weather record at the Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit, Mexico) during the last 12 months. This station has records back to April 1990.

Puerto Vallarta has a tropical savanna climate with dry winters. The area within 40 km of this station is covered by forests (67%), oceans and seas (27%), and grasslands (6%).

Calendar

Daylight saving time (DST) was observed at Puerto Vallarta during the last 12 months. There were two time changes during the last 12 months:

• DST started on Sunday April 7, 2013 at 3:00 am, from CST (GMT-6) to CDT (GMT-5)
• DST ended on Sunday October 27, 2013 at 1:00 am, from CDT (GMT-5) to CST (GMT-6)

2014 is not a leap year, so it has 365 days and no February 29th. The first leap year before 2014 was 2012 and the first after will be 2016.

The summer and winter solstices and the spring and fall equinoxes mark the passing of the seasons. They fall on nearly the same day each year, with differences of a day or two depending on the year. In 2014 they occur on:

• Spring Equinox - Thursday, 20 March 2014
• Summer Solstice - Saturday, 21 June 2014
• Fall Equinox - Tuesday, 23 September 2014
• Winter Solstice - Sunday, 21 December 2014

Temperature

The hottest day of the last 12 months was November 13, with a high temperature of 35°C (95°F). For reference, on that day the average high temperature is 30°C (86°F) and the high temperature exceeds 31°C (87.8°F)only one day in ten. The hottest month of the last 12 months was August with an average daily high temperature of 32°C (89.6°F).

Relative to the average, the hottest day was March 3. The high temperature that day was 33°C (91.4°F), compared to the average of 27°C (80.6°F), a difference of 6°C. In relative terms the warmest month was March, with an average high temperature of 27°C (80.6°F), compared to an typical value of 27°C.

The longest warm spell was from January 21 to February 12, constituting 23 consecutive days with warmer than average high temperatures. The month of January had the largest fraction of warmer than average days with 81% days with higher than average high temperatures.

The coldest day of the last 12 months was March 6, with a low temperature of 12°C (53.6°F). For reference, on that day the average low temperature is 17°C (62.6°F) and the low temperature drops below 15°C (59°F)only one day in ten. The coldest month of the last 12 months was February with an average daily low temperature of 17°C.

Relative to the average, the coldest day was March 6. The low temperature that day was 12°C, compared to the average of 17°C, a difference of 5°C. In relative terms the coldest month was May, with an average low temperature of 21°C (69.8°F), compared to an typical value of 22°C (71.6°F).

The longest cold spell was from February 26 to March 8, constituting 11 consecutive days with cooler than average low temperatures. The month of May had the largest fraction of cooler than average days with 71% days with lower than average low temperatures.

Clouds

The clearest month of the last 12 months was March, with 55% of days being more clear than cloudy. The longest spell of clear weather was from February 2 to February 10, constituting 9 consecutive days that were clearer than they were cloudy.

The cloudiest month of the last 12 months was September, with 93% of days being more cloudy than clear. The longest spell of cloudy weather was from August 18 to September 29, constituting 43 consecutive days that were cloudier than they were clear.

Precipitation

This station provides hourly reports of significant weather events at and around the station, but does not report the quantity of precipitation at the station itself. This is common for weather stations located outside of the United States, and for a small subset of stations in the United States that are located at lesser used and smaller airports.

This station reports when significant weather events (including precipitation) are visually observed at or near the station. Such events do not always correspond to measured quantities of liquid equivalent precipitation, such as when the event is near by not at the station, or in the case of solid precipitation that does not melt in the collection basin.

The day in the last 12 months with the most precipitation observations was July 7. There were 12 hourly weather reports that day (out of a maximum of 24) in which some form of precipitation was observed at or near the station. The month with the most precipitation observations was September, with 95 hourly present weather reports involving some form of precipitation.

Humidity

Humidity is an important factor in determining how weather conditions feel to a person experiencing them. Hot and humid days feel even hotter than hot and dry days because the high level of water content in humid air discourages the evaporation of sweat from a person's skin.

Keep in mind that the hottest part of the day tends to be the least humid, so the daily low traces are more relevant for understanding daytime comfort than the daily high traces, which typically occur during the night. Applying that observation, the least humid month of the last 12 months was March with an average daily low humidity of 46%, and the most humid month was September with an average daily low humidity of 65%.

But it is important to keep in mind that humidity does not tell the whole picture and the dew point is often a better measure of how comfortable a person will find a given set of weather conditions.

Wind

The highest sustained wind speed was 31 m/s, occurring on July 18; the highest daily mean wind speed was 4 m/s (June 14);

The windiest month was June, with an average wind speed of 3 m/s. The least windy month was January, with an average wind speed of 1 m/s.

Visibility

Visibility is the maximum distance at which a given reference object or light can be clearly discerned. In the United States, visibilities that are greater than or equal to 10 miles are typically reported as 10 miles.

The day of the last 12 months with the lowest average visibility was June 3, with an average visibility of 7.9 km. The month with the lowest average visibility was June, with an average visibility of 17.5 km. With an average visibility of 21.6 km, the month of April had the highest average visibility.

Read the entire story with graphs at Weatherspark.