Climate averages 1991–2020
Sydney weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 9th warmest and the 9th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Sydney: daytime highs average 18.7°C and nights cool to about 12.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 9th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 79 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 9th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 23 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Central Coast (51 km away). In May its highs average 18.8°C, about as warm as Sydney, with 70 mm of rain.
Among the 32 cities listed in Australia, Sydney ranks 20th of 32 for the warmest May highs and 28th of 32 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 32 cities is 19.5°C; Sydney is 0.7°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 2.4°C to 16.4°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 79 mm to 97 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
Sydney climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25.6°C19.5°C | 19.5°C | 73 | 9.3 | 14.114 h |
| February | 25.0°C19.5°C | 19.5°C | 93 | 10.5 | 13.313 h |
| March | 23.6°C18.2°C | 18.2°C | 81 | 11.7 | 12.312 h |
| April | 21.5°C15.3°C | 15.3°C | 77 | 10.5 | 11.311 h |
| May, selected | 18.7°C12.4°C | 12.4°C | 79 | 9.6 | 10.410 h |
| June | 16.4°C10.4°C | 10.4°C | 97 | 10.1 | 9.910 h |
| July | 15.9°C9.1°C | 9.1°C | 56 | 7.8 | 10.110 h |
| August | 17.1°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 53 | 6.4 | 10.911 h |
| September | 19.4°C11.5°C | 11.5°C | 50 | 6.7 | 11.912 h |
| October | 21.3°C13.8°C | 13.8°C | 59 | 8.1 | 12.913 h |
| November | 22.6°C15.8°C | 15.8°C | 72 | 9.2 | 13.914 h |
| December | 24.2°C17.8°C | 17.8°C | 60 | 8.7 | 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
- Central Coast in MayAustralia · 51 kmHigh 18.8°C · Low 13.8°C · 70 mm rain
- Wollongong in MayAustralia · 68 kmHigh 18.3°C · Low 13.5°C · 97 mm rain
- Blue Mountains in MayAustralia · 83 kmHigh 13.3°C · Low 4.6°C · 48 mm rain
- Newcastle, Australia in MayAustralia · 117 kmHigh 18.9°C · Low 13.8°C · 94 mm rain
- Maitland in MayAustralia · 130 kmHigh 19.5°C · Low 11.3°C · 47 mm rain
- Canberra in MayAustralia · 247 kmHigh 14.3°C · Low 4.3°C · 28 mm rain
- Tuggeranong in MayAustralia · 261 kmHigh 14.2°C · Low 4.4°C · 34 mm rain
- Coffs Harbour in MayAustralia · 436 kmHigh 19.9°C · Low 14.8°C · 74 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 Sydney) is explained once on the Sydney year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.