Climate averages 1991–2020
Bukavu weather
in May.
A warm, wet month: the joint 8th 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 Bukavu: daytime highs average 24.3°C and nights cool to about 16.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 93 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes May a wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 00 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Uvira (106 km away). In May its highs average 27.1°C, 2.7°C warmer than Bukavu, with 53 mm of rain.
Among the 60 cities listed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bukavu ranks 59th of 60 for the warmest May highs and 40th of 60 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 60 cities is 29.2°C; Bukavu is 4.9°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 0.2°C to 24.5°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 93 mm to 24 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
Bukavu climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24.2°C16.1°C | 16.1°C | 302 | 24.8 | 12.212 h |
| February | 24.7°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 229 | 21.4 | 12.212 h |
| March | 24.8°C16.3°C | 16.3°C | 225 | 23.1 | 12.112 h |
| April | 24.3°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 202 | 22.5 | 12.112 h |
| May, selected | 24.3°C16.0°C | 16.0°C | 93 | 13.9 | 12.012 h |
| June | 24.5°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 24 | 4.3 | 12.012 h |
| July | 25.0°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 8.9 | 1.4 | 12.012 h |
| August | 25.9°C16.0°C | 16.0°C | 26 | 4.0 | 12.012 h |
| September | 25.9°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 85 | 10.0 | 12.112 h |
| October | 24.7°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 239 | 20.9 | 12.212 h |
| November | 24.0°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 310 | 25.0 | 12.212 h |
| December | 23.9°C16.0°C | 16.0°C | 310 | 25.1 | 12.312 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
- Uvira in MayDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 106 kmHigh 27.1°C · Low 23.2°C · 53 mm rain
- Muhanga in MayRwanda · 109 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 14.2°C · 78 mm rain
- Gitarama in MayRwanda · 112 kmHigh 22.0°C · Low 12.9°C · 78 mm rain
- Bujumbura in MayBurundi · 115 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 22.5°C · 53 mm rain
- Musanze in MayRwanda · 141 kmHigh 22.1°C · Low 15.4°C · 118 mm rain
- Kigali in MayRwanda · 148 kmHigh 23.9°C · Low 14.9°C · 83 mm rain
- Gitega in MayBurundi · 159 kmHigh 22.1°C · Low 14.6°C · 45 mm rain
- Rutshuru in MayDemocratic Republic of the Congo · 160 kmHigh 25.6°C · Low 16.1°C · 139 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 Bukavu) is explained once on the Bukavu year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.