Rainy Season in Cusco and Machu Picchu: Month by Month
Quick answer: The rainy season in the Cusco region — Machu Picchu included — runs Nov–Mar, and the dry season May–Sep is as dry as travel gets: August averages 6 mm (0.2 in) across 1 rain day, against 158 mm (6.2 in) across 21 rain days in February. That is a wettest-to-driest ratio of more than twenty to one.
Pick a destination to see its weather month by month and the best time to go, or pick a month to see where the weather is at its best.
Tokyo · a city trip
Good: Mar–May, Oct–DecNo month is ideal for a city trip by our rule, but these come close.
- Warmest
- Aug · 89°F
- Coolest
- Jan · 49°F
- Wettest
- Jul · 16 rain days
- Averages for 2006–2025: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.
Weather from NASA POWER daily data, 2006–2025, for the ~50 km area around each place. Right on the coast, afternoons can be a few degrees warmer than shown.
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain days | Rain (in) | Storms within 100 mi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49° / 34° | 5 | 2.4 | Off (too cold) | |
| Feb | 51° / 35° | 7 | 3.1 | Off (too cold) | |
| Mar | 57° / 40° | 12 | 5.1 | Good (cool, showery) | |
| Apr | 65° / 48° | 12 | 6 | Good (showery) | |
| May | 73° / 58° | 13 | 6.6 | Good (showery) | |
| Jun | 79° / 65° | 16 | 8.1 | Off (too wet) | |
| Jul | 86° / 73° | 16 | 6.5 | Off (too wet) | |
| Aug | 89° / 75° | 15 | 5.4 | Off (too hot) | |
| Sep | 82° / 70° | 16 | 8.7 | Off (too wet) | |
| Oct | 72° / 59° | 14 | 8.9 | Good (showery) | |
| Nov | 63° / 48° | 11 | 4.4 | Good (showery) | |
| Dec | 54° / 39° | 7 | 3.2 | Good (cool) |
The tool above opens on Cusco (Machu Picchu): change the place or the month to yours. Below, Cusco and Machu Picchu month by month — rain, rain days and how warm it is.
Cusco and Machu Picchu month by month
Average rainfall and the number of days with at least 1 mm of rain, 2006–2025. On this page a month counts as wet when it gets more rain than an average month in that place (more than a twelfth of its year), and dry when it gets less than half an average month. The months in between are the shoulder.
| Month | Rain | Rain days | Average high | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 123 mm (4.8 in) | 21 | 57°F / 14°C | Wet |
| February | 158 mm (6.2 in) | 21 | 57°F / 14°C | Wet |
| March | 98 mm (3.9 in) | 19 | 57°F / 14°C | Wet |
| April | 51 mm (2.0 in) | 8 | 57°F / 14°C | Shoulder |
| May | 8 mm (0.3 in) | 2 | 57°F / 14°C | Dry |
| June | 12 mm (0.5 in) | 2 | 58°F / 14°C | Dry |
| July | 7 mm (0.3 in) | 1 | 59°F / 15°C | Dry |
| August | 6 mm (0.2 in) | 1 | 60°F / 16°C | Dry |
| September | 14 mm (0.6 in) | 4 | 61°F / 16°C | Dry |
| October | 61 mm (2.4 in) | 11 | 61°F / 16°C | Shoulder |
| November | 80 mm (3.1 in) | 12 | 60°F / 16°C | Wet |
| December | 138 mm (5.4 in) | 21 | 58°F / 15°C | Wet |
Cusco (Machu Picchu) is wet in Nov–Mar, shoulder in Apr, Oct and dry in May–Sep.
At 3,400 m the seasons here are about rain and nights, not daytime heat. The days barely move all year — 59°F / 15°C in July against 57°F / 14°C in February — but the dry months hold the coldest nights: 36°F / 2°C in July, against 39°F / 4°C in February. Dry days and cold nights are why Aug–Sep rates as the best time to be here. The wet months are milder and much greener, and they are the cheap half of the year.
The wettest and driest months
Cusco (Machu Picchu): wettest in February (158 mm (6.2 in), 21 rain days), driest in August (6 mm (0.2 in), 1 rain day). Over the year, Cusco (Machu Picchu) gets 756 mm (29.8 in).
The best months to go
Cusco (Machu Picchu): Aug–Sep. When to Go rates every month on temperature, rain days and storms — open Cusco (Machu Picchu) in the tool above and step through the year.
Plan it
FAQ
When is the rainy season in Cusco and Machu Picchu?
Nov–Mar — the months that get more rain than an average month in Cusco (Machu Picchu). February is the wettest, at 158 mm (6.2 in) across 21 rain days, against 6 mm (0.2 in) in August (NASA POWER, 2006–2025).
Does it rain all day in the rainy season in Cusco and Machu Picchu?
The measure here is a day with at least 1 mm of rain, not a day of rain. In February, Cusco (Machu Picchu) averages 21 rain days out of 28, with an average high of 57°F / 14°C.
What is the driest month in Cusco and Machu Picchu?
August, at 6 mm (0.2 in) across 1 rain day. The dry months, by the rule this page uses, are May–Sep.
When is the best time to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu?
When to Go rates Aug–Sep the best months for Cusco (Machu Picchu), on temperature, rain days and — where it applies — storms. Change the place in the tool above for anywhere else on the same map.
Can you visit Machu Picchu in the rainy season?
The site is open all year. The rain is heaviest Nov–Mar — 21 rain days in January and 21 rain days in February at Cusco — and that is the low season, so it is greener and quieter. The trade-off is cloud: the classic view down the site can be closed in for hours at a time.
How these numbers are made
Daily rainfall and temperature from NASA POWER (MERRA-2), averaged over 2006–2025; a rain day is a day with at least 1 mm. These figures are the Cusco grid square, at about 3,400 m; Machu Picchu sits roughly 1,000 m lower and 75 km away in cloud forest, and is wetter than this in every month. The wet and dry months are the same, the millimetres are not. POWER works on a grid of about 50 km, so each place here is its neighbourhood rather than its own rain gauge: a coast, a small island or a valley under a mountain can differ from the square it sits in. The months are the part that holds; treat a single millimetre figure as an average, not a forecast.