As diversified as the land is in Mexico, so varied is the weather. These differences are especially apparent in tropical Mexico which is located south of the tropic of Cancer. Here the altitudes differences results in three main temperature zones. The tierra caliente (hot land) includes regions up to 3,000 feet above sea level. This is where you find the long, hot summers and mild winters without frost. The tierra templada (temperate land) includes the areas from 3,000 feet in altitude to 6,000 feet and provides temperatures that generally hover around 50 degrees up to 80 degrees. This area encompasses most of the agricultural land in Mexico. The tierra fria (cold land) begins above 6,000 feet. Frost is rarely seen in this zone until one reaches 8,000 feet but it can occur at almost any time. At the highest peaks in this region, snow is generally always visible..

In the tropical regions of Mexico, the weather is most often rainy in the summers. This is where the major rain storms with heavy downpours occur, be it short but heavy. Further towards the south, the rainy season begins earlier and lasts longer.

In the northern part of Mexico, the weather is usually dry; this area is largely comprised of deserts and semi deserts. The lack of rainfall has limited agricultural development in this region. The mountainous regions receive enough rainfall for growing good crops without irrigation. Here again, most of this rainfall will occur in the summer months.

Mexico weather is also quite variable due to the fact of its location on the eastern edge of the Ring of Fire, a belt circling the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanoes occur. Mexico also lies in the path of hurricanes that form in the warm, tropical air hovering over the Atlantic Ocean. Consequently, such natural disasters are all too familiar to the Mexican people.

Earthquakes so powerful as the one in 1985 which rocked Mexico city for three minutes and caused immense devastation and loss of life (over 7,000 deaths), volcanic eruptions as witnessed in 1943 and 1982 which changed the land topography and destroyed villages and thousands of lives, and hurricanes such as Gilbert in 1988, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded
in the Western Hemisphere with sustained winds of over 137 miles per hour have all contributed to the resilience and character of the Mexican people.