Climate averages 1991–2020
Melbourne weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the joint 8th warmest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Melbourne: daytime highs average 16.1°C and nights cool to about 9.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 43 mm of rain on roughly 9 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 07 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Geelong (65 km away). In May its highs average 16.1°C, about as warm as Melbourne, with 32 mm of rain.
Among the 32 cities listed in Australia, Melbourne ranks joint 23rd of 32 for the warmest May highs and 10th of 32 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 32 cities is 19.5°C; Melbourne is 3.4°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 2.6°C to 13.5°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 43 mm to 49 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
Melbourne climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25.5°C14.7°C | 14.7°C | 49 | 5.9 | 14.514 h |
| February | 25.4°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 44 | 5.7 | 13.514 h |
| March | 23.2°C13.5°C | 13.5°C | 35 | 5.5 | 12.412 h |
| April | 19.6°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 46 | 7.0 | 11.111 h |
| May, selected | 16.1°C9.1°C | 9.1°C | 43 | 8.7 | 10.110 h |
| June | 13.5°C7.2°C | 7.2°C | 49 | 10.2 | 9.610 h |
| July | 12.9°C6.6°C | 6.6°C | 44 | 11.0 | 9.810 h |
| August | 13.9°C6.8°C | 6.8°C | 51 | 11.3 | 10.711 h |
| September | 16.1°C7.9°C | 7.9°C | 60 | 11.7 | 11.812 h |
| October | 18.8°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 60 | 10.3 | 13.013 h |
| November | 21.2°C11.3°C | 11.3°C | 61 | 9.3 | 14.114 h |
| December | 23.3°C12.9°C | 12.9°C | 60 | 7.7 | 14.715 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
- Geelong in MayAustralia · 65 kmHigh 16.1°C · Low 9.6°C · 32 mm rain
- Ballarat in MayAustralia · 102 kmHigh 13.6°C · Low 6.9°C · 45 mm rain
- Bendigo in MayAustralia · 132 kmHigh 15.6°C · Low 7.9°C · 39 mm rain
- Launceston in MayAustralia · 444 kmHigh 14.0°C · Low 5.8°C · 60 mm rain
- Tuggeranong in MayAustralia · 453 kmHigh 14.2°C · Low 4.4°C · 34 mm rain
- Canberra in MayAustralia · 466 kmHigh 14.3°C · Low 4.3°C · 28 mm rain
- Hobart in MayAustralia · 598 kmHigh 14.1°C · Low 7.4°C · 44 mm rain
- Adelaide Hills in MayAustralia · 646 kmHigh 15.3°C · Low 8.5°C · 44 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 Melbourne) is explained once on the Melbourne year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.