The best months to go, from the climate records
Find the best time to visit, month by month. Choose a destination and an area to see its weather: rain, highs and lows, cloud cover and daylight. Months are rated for a warm, dry trip; click one for the details.
Best-month finder
Example valuesBars: average rain per month. Choose a month for the details.
Turn on JavaScript to use the finder, or read the table below.
Best time to visit, month by month
Best: highs 68–90 °F (20–32 °C) and under 2.4 in (60 mm) of rain. Good: highs 64–91 °F (18–33 °C) and under 4.7 in (120 mm). Cold: highs under 50 °F (10 °C); Hot: over 95 °F (35 °C); Wet: over 7.9 in (200 mm). Where only rain is known month by month, the rating uses rain alone.
How the months are rated
Climate, not a forecast
These are 30-year averages from weather stations: what a typical year looks like. Any single month can be wetter, drier, hotter or cooler.
Warm and dry, by a simple rule
A month is “Best” when highs are between 68 and 90 °F and less than 2.4 inches of rain falls. Wet places (like Hilo) may have no “Best” month: the least wet ones stand out instead.
Your trip may differ
Whales, blooms, snow or the northern lights follow their own seasons: see the Nature Calendar. In Alaska the finder also shows the hours of real darkness for the aurora.
Plan the rest of the trip
The weather is one half of the best time to visit; what you want to see is the other. Check the Nature Calendar for whales, blooms and festivals in the same months, the golden hour calculator for the light on your dates, and the bag fit checker before you pack. Save the trip in My trips and each tool fills in your place and dates.