Climate averages 1991–2020
Adelaide weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 8th warmest and the 8th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Adelaide: daytime highs average 17.4°C and nights cool to about 11.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 52 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 8th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 19 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Adelaide Hills (10 km away). In May its highs average 15.3°C, 2.0°C cooler than Adelaide, with 44 mm of rain.
Among the 32 cities listed in Australia, Adelaide ranks 22nd of 32 for the warmest May highs and joint 17th of 32 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 32 cities is 19.5°C; Adelaide is 2.1°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 2.8°C to 14.5°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 52 mm to 61 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Adelaide climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.7°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 19 | 3.3 | 14.214 h |
| February | 27.5°C16.8°C | 16.8°C | 19 | 2.7 | 13.413 h |
| March | 24.8°C15.2°C | 15.2°C | 19 | 3.5 | 12.312 h |
| April | 21.2°C13.2°C | 13.2°C | 36 | 5.6 | 11.211 h |
| May, selected | 17.4°C11.0°C | 11.0°C | 52 | 8.3 | 10.310 h |
| June | 14.5°C9.0°C | 9.0°C | 61 | 9.6 | 9.810 h |
| July | 13.7°C8.2°C | 8.2°C | 64 | 10.4 | 10.010 h |
| August | 14.6°C8.3°C | 8.3°C | 58 | 10.8 | 10.811 h |
| September | 17.0°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 53 | 9.8 | 11.812 h |
| October | 20.1°C11.2°C | 11.2°C | 35 | 6.4 | 12.913 h |
| November | 23.1°C13.3°C | 13.3°C | 30 | 5.3 | 13.914 h |
| December | 25.3°C15.0°C | 15.0°C | 25 | 4.8 | 14.414 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
May in nearby cities
- Adelaide Hills in MayAustralia · 10 kmHigh 15.3°C · Low 8.5°C · 44 mm rain
- Bendigo in MayAustralia · 551 kmHigh 15.6°C · Low 7.9°C · 39 mm rain
- Ballarat in MayAustralia · 555 kmHigh 13.6°C · Low 6.9°C · 45 mm rain
- Geelong in MayAustralia · 627 kmHigh 16.1°C · Low 9.6°C · 32 mm rain
- Melbourne in MayAustralia · 654 kmHigh 16.1°C · Low 9.1°C · 43 mm rain
- Canberra in MayAustralia · 958 kmHigh 14.3°C · Low 4.3°C · 28 mm rain
- Sydney in MayAustralia · 1162 kmHigh 18.7°C · Low 12.4°C · 79 mm rain
- Newcastle, Australia in MayAustralia · 1235 kmHigh 18.9°C · Low 13.8°C · 94 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Adelaide) is explained once on the Adelaide year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.