Today's weather for Playacar, Mexico26th Jul 2008 01:40

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Weather Overview for Playacar

Playacar is situated in the east of Mexico on the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula. You’ll find Playacar just to the south of the famous resort of Cancun in the province of Quintana Roo.

Playacar enjoys a tropical climate with warm temperatures year round and two distinct seasons – wet and dry.

Temperature averages about 26C across the year in Playacar and rainfall averages about 1400mm over the year, most of which falls in the wet season between May and October.

Humidity can be quite high in Playacar, often around 80%. It is at its lowest in April and May.

Sea temperature is great year round, averaging about 27ºC. It varies from about 23ºC at its coolest to almost 30ºC.

DRY SEASON

The dry season generally begins in November and last until April. Rainfall is low in this period, though there are still some brief showers especially at the beginning and end of the season. January and February are the coolest months of the year with an average of 23 ºC. The comfortable temperatures and low rainfall at this time of year make it the most popular time to visit. Even in the coolest months, however, temperature rarely falls much below 20C.

From March temperatures begin to build once more and by the time the wet season begins in May, average temperature is 27C, with highs frequently in the 30s.

March and April, the end of the dry season, are the driest months of the year with just over 40mm average rainfall.

This whole period is an ideal time to visit Playacar as sunshine is in abundance and rainfall low.

WET SEASON

The wet season usually arrives in May and lasts until late October and around 70% of the yearly rainfall occurs during these months.

June and July are the hottest months of the year, and temperatures in the mid 30s are not uncommon. Since Playacar is on the coast however, there is almost always a cooling sea breeze meaning temperatures don’t get as hot as areas inland that can see the mercury rising up to 40C.

All the months during the wet season average at least 100mm of rainfall, but the months of September and October, at the end of the wet season, generally see the most rain. These months can see more than 200mm falling.

This shouldn’t necessarily put you off visiting however because the rain usually occurs in short but heavy tropical downpours, meaning there’s still plenty of sunshine. Rainstorms often last just a couple of hours before the blue sky returns.

There is one thing to be aware of at this time of year though - hurricanes.

Hurricane season in the region officially runs from June to October, although September and October are the most likely months. The last significant hurricane to hit Playacar and the surrounding region was Hurricane Wilma struck in October 2005. At category 5 when it hit land, this was a particularly fearsome hurricane and showed just what damage nature can inflict. The storm battered the area for nearly 3 days with winds of up to 130mph and caused more than $3 billion of damage.

Although the demonstrated just how devastating hurricanes can be, your chances of being caught in one are quite low; Playacar is directly hit by one every 12 years on average. More likely is being caught in the tail end of a large storm – the area is brushed by a hurricane once every 2.5 years on average. Last summer (2007) saw a near miss from hurricane Dean.

Warnings and predictions are very accurate and past experience has taught the region how to cope, with the introduction of emergency and evacuation procedures. Most hotels are hurricane proof and staff know what to do in the event of an impending hurricane.

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