La Canícula

I'm curious about La Canícula... is it the same dates every year based on historical tradition, or is it something measurable that signals the start (like El Nino and water temps)? Is it specific to Zihua, or is it a thing all up and down the coast?

I've heard people talk about different times of the summer having better/worse conditions for various activities (diving, fishing, etc) and trying to piece it all together into better knowledge about how things work here. Thanks!

There's been previous helpful discussion about this here on the Message Board in case you want to do a search (top right-hand corner).

Basically La Canícula is a period during our summer in some regions of Mexico where the temperatures rise, the days are mostly cloudless, and there is little if any rain. It can be dangerous, especially for folks not acclimated to our region. While El Niño is definitely affecting us this year, La Canícula is a yearly event that unfortunately coincides with our summer vacation period.

You can go back and read older messages from other years for this time of year, and you'll see it isn't a fixed date, but it always occurs without fail. Drives some folks crazy. Most folks from other places go back to those other places at this time of year.