If you are coming from northern hemisphere (North America, Europe, Asia) don't forget weather is opposite here. So summer time in USA is actually winter in Peru.
If you are at this page to plan your tour, I would like you to consider two main issues, rain and temperature. Since temperature is not a major issue in Cusco, most of the people visit there considering how wet the season is. If you think about rainfall weather of Cusco can be divided into two particular seasons, the dry season and the wet season. The dry season accounts for May to September, while the wet season consists of the rest of the year (Oct-April).
The wet season- The wet season includes the months September to May. It rains throughout these seven months with an average rainfall of 152mm. Though it rains throughout the season, the middle portion of the season is considered to be comparatively damper.
The dry season- The dry season gets introduce in June and lasts till August. It is the best time to visit Cusco as you will experience only a minute rainfall (5-10mm), and the temperature is not even high. The average temperature stays around 16 degree Celsius.
If you look at the table below ( both are same, one provides information in Celsius and millimetre unit and the other being in Fahrenheit and inch unit.), you can see December, January and February are really wet. In January number of wet days is 16, while 14 days in december and 12 days in February are wet. That is why most of the visitors try to avoid these three months to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu.
Average monthly Temperature and rainfall in Cusco
(Temperature in Celsius and Rainfall in mm)
| Month | Temp (Min) (OC) | Temp (Max) (OC) | Rainfall (mm) |
| Jan | 7 | 20 | 163 |
| Feb | 7 | 21 | 150 |
| March | 7 | 21 | 109 |
| April | 4 | 22 | 51 |
| May | 2 | 21 | 15 |
| June | 1 | 21 | 5 |
| July | -1 | 21 | 5 |
| Aug | 1 | 21 | 10 |
| Sept | 4 | 22 | 25 |
| Oct | 6 | 22 | 66 |
| Nov | 6 | 23 | 76 |
| Dec | 7 | 22 | 137 |
(Temperature in Fahrenheit and Rainfall in inch)
| Month | Temp (Min) (OC) | Temp (Max) (OC) | Rainfall (mm) |
| Jan | 45 | 68 | 6.4 |
| Feb | 45 | 70 | 5.9 |
| March | 45 | 70 | 4.3 |
| April | 39 | 72 | 2.0 |
| May | 36 | 70 | 0.6 |
| June | 34 | 70 | 0.2 |
| July | 30 | 70 | 0.2 |
| Aug | 34 | 70 | 0.4 |
| Sept | 39 | 72 | 1.0 |
| Oct | 43 | 72 | 2.6 |
| Nov | 43 | 73 | 3.0 |
| Dec | 45 | 72 | 5.4 |
Now let's discuss a bit about temperature. Daytime temperature does not fluctuate much in different months in Cusco. The average year round temperature is only 68°F or 20°C during daytime. But in winter season ( from April to August) temperature drop to low thirties (in °F) (2-7 °C) during nighttimes. But in very few cases they drop below freezing.
I hope by this time you got idea that winter season is dry here, and summer comes with lots of rain. Heavy rainfall in late January or February is sometime frightening here. Since winter is not a big threat here, most visitors choose winter/dry season instead of summer/wet season.
Cusco mudslide last year ( Jan-2010)
Though this city is very calm and quiet, it gets very crowded during June and July due to presence of the tourists. So if you want to enjoy the city in a calm and quiet way, it is suggested that you come on around May or August.
