Climate averages 1991–2020
Rio de Janeiro weather
in May.
A warm, moderately wet month: the 10th warmest and the 5th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Rio de Janeiro: daytime highs average 25.6°C and nights cool to about 19.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the 10th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 76 mm of rain on roughly 11 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 02 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is São Gonçalo (16 km away). In May its highs average 25.0°C, 0.6°C cooler than Rio de Janeiro, with 75 mm of rain.
Among the 448 cities listed in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro ranks joint 209th of 448 for the warmest May highs and joint 247th of 448 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 448 cities is 25.3°C; Rio de Janeiro is 0.3°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 0.4°C to 25.2°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 76 mm to 48 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
Rio de Janeiro climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30.7°C23.5°C | 23.5°C | 170 | 16.4 | 13.413 h |
| February | 31.2°C23.6°C | 23.6°C | 118 | 13.3 | 12.913 h |
| March | 29.6°C23.0°C | 23.0°C | 145 | 16.7 | 12.212 h |
| April | 28.0°C21.4°C | 21.4°C | 88 | 12.0 | 11.612 h |
| May, selected | 25.6°C19.0°C | 19.0°C | 76 | 11.1 | 11.011 h |
| June | 25.2°C17.8°C | 17.8°C | 48 | 7.3 | 10.811 h |
| July | 24.9°C17.1°C | 17.1°C | 51 | 7.9 | 10.911 h |
| August | 25.9°C17.5°C | 17.5°C | 41 | 7.5 | 11.311 h |
| September | 26.8°C18.6°C | 18.6°C | 75 | 10.5 | 11.912 h |
| October | 28.0°C20.0°C | 20.0°C | 92 | 11.7 | 12.613 h |
| November | 28.0°C21.0°C | 21.0°C | 139 | 15.8 | 13.213 h |
| December | 29.7°C22.6°C | 22.6°C | 151 | 16.2 | 13.514 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
- São Gonçalo in MayBrazil · 16 kmHigh 25.0°C · Low 18.3°C · 75 mm rain
- Duque de Caxias in MayBrazil · 19 kmHigh 25.8°C · Low 18.3°C · 74 mm rain
- Barra da Tijuca in MayBrazil · 21 kmHigh 26.2°C · Low 19.1°C · 76 mm rain
- Belford Roxo in MayBrazil · 27 kmHigh 25.9°C · Low 18.4°C · 58 mm rain
- Magé in MayBrazil · 32 kmHigh 25.1°C · Low 17.7°C · 75 mm rain
- Nova Iguaçu in MayBrazil · 32 kmHigh 25.9°C · Low 18.1°C · 58 mm rain
- Maricá in MayBrazil · 37 kmHigh 25.2°C · Low 19.7°C · 77 mm rain
- Itaboraí in MayBrazil · 38 kmHigh 24.8°C · Low 17.5°C · 77 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 Rio de Janeiro) is explained once on the Rio de Janeiro year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Barra da Tijuca lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.