Merida in November: Weather, Rain Days, Things to Do and a Comparison With October and December

MERIDA · YUCATAN · NOVEMBER

Merida in November comes a notch cooler and much drier than October: an average high of 87.8°F, an average low of 66.0°F and 2.22 inches of rain for the month. The city was founded in 1542 by Spanish conquistadors on top of the Maya city of T’ho. The 2020 census counted 921,770 residents in the city and 1,316,090 across its metropolitan area, so this is a working capital with plazas and avenues to walk, not a village.

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center puts the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season around September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. The season officially closes on November 30, which makes November its last month and the first of the three (October, November, December) to sit at the tail end of the storm calendar.

On this page

• Merida weather in NovemberHighs, lows, rain days and daylight
• How warm is Merida in November?The 87.8°F average high, the 66.0°F low and the missing sea reading
• Merida crowds and prices in NovemberAirport traffic, lodging tax and refundable fares
• Things to do in Merida in NovemberCathedral of San Ildefonso, Paseo de Montejo and the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya
• Merida itinerary for NovemberTwo days, with a rain swap
• Merida in November vs October and DecemberHighs, lows and rain for the three months
• Is November a good time to visit Merida?Who it suits, and when to shift to December

One baseline holds for any month. As of the U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory dated May 29, 2026, the State of Yucatan is at Level 1, “Exercise normal precautions,” and in 2015 the Karolinska Institute of Sweden certified Merida an International Safe Community. To compare other destinations by calendar, use our Where to Go by Month guides, and for the city itself see the Merida guide.

Merida weather in November: average highs, lows and rain days

Every figure here comes from Mexico’s national weather service, the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), and its 1991-2020 climate normals for station 31097, Merida (Conagua), which sits in the city. That is a thermometer in Merida itself. November averages 87.8°F for the high and 66.0°F for the low, with 2.22 inches of precipitation. Progreso on the Gulf coast, 20 miles north, runs a few degrees cooler with the sea breeze.

SMN counts 7.3 days of measurable rain in an average November, roughly one day in four. A week in the city therefore holds one or two wet days on average (est.), and the station sheet does not publish the rain threshold behind its count. Keep one indoor block of the trip movable, ready to swap with whichever day turns wet.

The spread from 66.0°F to 87.8°F is 21.8 degrees. The bag needs one thin layer for evenings and for indoor air conditioning, a hat and sunscreen for the walking hours, and a compact rain shell for those 7.3 wet days on average.

On November 15 daylight lasts about 11 hours 10 minutes. Sunrise is at 12:07 UTC, or 6:07 a.m. in Merida, and sunset at 23:18 UTC, or 5:18 p.m., 18 minutes after the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya closes at 5:00 p.m. Dinner outdoors happens in the dark.

How warm is Merida in November?

The 87.8°F afternoon average and the 66.0°F night average bracket a typical November day. They are averages, so single afternoons land on both sides of them. There is no sea at the city itself: the Gulf coast starts at Progreso, and we found no water-temperature reading for it, so we give no swim figure.

In practice November splits the day in two. The walking hours belong to the cool early part, and the 87.8°F afternoon goes to shade, a long lunch and an indoor stop. Dress for the second half in breathable cotton or linen, because the morning’s thin overshirt is in the bag by mid-morning.

SMN’s normals give averages and no count of cold nights, so we quote none. Even December’s 63.3°F average low sits far above freezing, and a cold-weather kit is not a November item.

How busy is Merida in November? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series, no monthly hotel-rate series and no crowd counts for Merida’s sights, so we crown no month expensive or cheap. The one demand signal we hold is the airport: Merida International Airport (MID) handled 3,939,692 passengers in 2025, up 3.5% on the year before and ninth in Mexico by passenger volume.

Flights land at MID, less than 5 kilometers southwest of downtown. We found no booking-lead data, so we quote no number of weeks. The storm calendar does give one rule: until the hurricane season closes on November 30, a refundable fare is the cautious pick for any November dates.

We could not verify Merida’s lodging-tax rate, so we give no percentage. Ask each property whether the tax sits inside the quoted rate or gets added at checkout.

With afternoons averaging 87.8°F, a room with working air conditioning, and ideally a pool or a shaded courtyard, buys more of the month than a pricier tour does.

Things to do in Merida in November

Most of what Merida offers happens outdoors and on foot, and November suits that better than October: 7.3 rain days against 12.2, and an average high of 87.8°F against 90.7°F. Early morning is the walking window, with the sun up from 6:07 a.m.

The Cathedral of San Ildefonso dates to 1598 and was the first cathedral built in continental North America. Paseo de Montejo, the city’s signature avenue, is lined with early-20th-century mansions and original sculpture, among them Las Casas Gemelas (the Twin Houses), completed in 1911. The Gran Museo del Mundo Maya is open Wednesday to Monday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and closed on Tuesdays.

The cathedral, the mansions and the museum look the same in every month, and the museum’s hours do not move. The air does. An afternoon average of 87.8°F and a night average of 66.0°F turn the outdoor pair into early stops and the museum into the indoor midday one.

We did not verify admission prices, so we cannot say which of these cost nothing on a November day. The avenue is a public street. For the cathedral and the museum, check entry terms on the museum’s own site and at the door before you plan around either being free.

Merida itinerary for November

Day one, clear weather. Start at first light at the Cathedral of San Ildefonso, with the air still near the night’s 66.0°F average low. Walk Paseo de Montejo and Las Casas Gemelas before the afternoon reaches its 87.8°F average, then take a long lunch in the shade. After sunset at 5:18 p.m. the avenue is walkable again.

Day two, and the rain swap. The Gran Museo del Mundo Maya opens at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday to Monday and closes at 5:00 p.m., so keep this day away from Tuesday. If the weather turns on either day, swap them: the museum takes the wet day and the avenue waits for the dry one, since roughly one November day in four brings measurable rain.

Merida in November vs October and December

From October to November the average high drops 2.9 degrees and the low 2.2 degrees, precipitation falls 3.15 inches, and rain days go from 12.2 to 7.3. December takes another 1.4 degrees off the high and 2.7 degrees off the low, with 0.83 inch less rain and 5.2 rain days. All three months come from the same SMN station and the same 1991-2020 period.

Moving four weeks earlier, into October, gives up the drier air (5.37 inches, 12.2 rain days) and puts the whole trip inside the storm season, for nights only slightly warmer at 68.2°F on average. Moving four weeks later, into December, brings 5.2 rain days and a closed storm season, and nights at 63.3°F on average, when a light layer becomes standard. We have no rate data to say whether either shift saves money.

Is November a good time to visit Merida?

Yes, for anyone who wants to walk a colonial city in short sleeves: highs of 87.8°F, 2.22 inches of rain and the storm season ending on November 30. It suits people who plan around cool mornings and midday shade. It suits a fixed, guaranteed-dry itinerary less, since 7.3 rain days still land in an average month.

If fewer rain days matter most, choose December: 5.2 rain days against 7.3, 1.39 inches of rain and a hurricane season that has already closed. The price is cooler evenings, with an average low of 63.3°F.

November sits 3.15 inches drier than October and keeps nights 2.7 degrees warmer than December.

The last word

Two days cover Merida in November if they are ordered well: the Cathedral of San Ildefonso and Paseo de Montejo in the first cool hours, the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya on any day except Tuesday, and a refundable fare until the storm season closes on November 30. The Yucatan Peninsula behind the city, shared by Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo, is the historical heartland of the Maya civilization.

Sources & data for this guide

• Temperature and precipitation normals, station 31097 Merida (Conagua) · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), 1991-2020 · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Rain-day counts · SMN’s own count, threshold not published on the station sheet · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset for Nov 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted to Merida local time · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Museum hours · Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (operator) · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Founding, cathedral, Paseo de Montejo, Safe Community certification · Wikipedia, “Merida, Yucatan” (secondary source) · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Travel advisory, Level 1 dated May 29, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Airport traffic · Wikipedia, Manuel Crescencio Rejon International Airport, citing federal civil aviation statistics (secondary source) · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Hurricane season dates and peak · NOAA National Hurricane Center · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Editorial gaps: we found no sea-temperature reading, no hotel-rate or occupancy series, no lodging-tax rate, no count of cold nights and no verified November event dates, so none appear. Hours and prices change · check operators when you book.