Climate averages 1991–2020
Cairns weather
in May.
A warm, moderately wet month: the 9th warmest and the 6th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Cairns: daytime highs average 25.6°C and nights cool to about 21.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 9th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 41 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 6th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 20 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Townsville (283 km away). In May its highs average 26.2°C, 0.5°C warmer than Cairns, with 29 mm of rain.
Among the 32 cities listed in Australia, Cairns ranks 3rd of 32 for the warmest May highs and 9th of 32 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 32 cities is 19.5°C; Cairns is 6.2°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 1.5°C to 24.2°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 41 mm to 27 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
Cairns climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.7°C24.8°C | 24.8°C | 245 | 21.2 | 13.013 h |
| February | 29.6°C24.9°C | 24.9°C | 256 | 20.9 | 12.713 h |
| March | 28.7°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 206 | 17.9 | 12.212 h |
| April | 27.3°C22.9°C | 22.9°C | 94 | 12.7 | 11.712 h |
| May, selected | 25.6°C21.2°C | 21.2°C | 41 | 9.5 | 11.311 h |
| June | 24.2°C19.5°C | 19.5°C | 27 | 7.0 | 11.111 h |
| July | 23.5°C18.6°C | 18.6°C | 27 | 5.9 | 11.211 h |
| August | 24.3°C18.7°C | 18.7°C | 23 | 5.5 | 11.512 h |
| September | 26.3°C20.2°C | 20.2°C | 14 | 4.1 | 12.012 h |
| October | 27.7°C21.8°C | 21.8°C | 31 | 6.5 | 12.512 h |
| November | 29.0°C23.3°C | 23.3°C | 57 | 10.4 | 12.913 h |
| December | 29.7°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 142 | 16.1 | 13.113 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
- Townsville in MayAustralia · 283 kmHigh 26.2°C · Low 19.0°C · 29 mm rain
- Mackay in MayAustralia · 591 kmHigh 23.7°C · Low 19.4°C · 54 mm rain
- Sunshine Coast in MayAustralia · 1319 kmHigh 21.6°C · Low 15.9°C · 77 mm rain
- Caloundra in MayAustralia · 1334 kmHigh 21.5°C · Low 15.9°C · 77 mm rain
- Toowoomba in MayAustralia · 1343 kmHigh 19.5°C · Low 9.5°C · 37 mm rain
- Brisbane in MayAustralia · 1390 kmHigh 22.3°C · Low 13.9°C · 60 mm rain
- Logan City in MayAustralia · 1410 kmHigh 22.0°C · Low 14.3°C · 51 mm rain
- Gold Coast in MayAustralia · 1461 kmHigh 21.4°C · Low 16.3°C · 97 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 Cairns) is explained once on the Cairns year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.