Climate averages 1991–2020
Kota Bharu weather
in May.
A hot, wet month: the warmest and the 5th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a hot month in Kota Bharu: daytime highs average 31.3°C and nights cool to about 25.3°C. By daytime temperature it is the warmest month of the year.
Expect about 178 mm of rain on roughly 26 days, which makes May a wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 24 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Pasir Mas (14 km away). In May its highs average 31.8°C, 0.5°C warmer than Kota Bharu, with 178 mm of rain.
Among the 72 cities listed in Malaysia, Kota Bharu ranks joint 4th of 72 for the warmest May highs and joint 16th of 72 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 72 cities is 30.1°C; Kota Bharu is 1.2°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 0.3°C to 31.0°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 178 mm to 183 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
Kota Bharu climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.7°C23.1°C | 23.1°C | 173 | 20.3 | 11.812 h |
| February | 28.6°C23.3°C | 23.3°C | 83 | 13.5 | 11.912 h |
| March | 30.0°C24.0°C | 24.0°C | 114 | 15.7 | 12.112 h |
| April | 31.1°C24.9°C | 24.9°C | 118 | 18.6 | 12.312 h |
| May, selected | 31.3°C25.3°C | 25.3°C | 178 | 26.0 | 12.412 h |
| June | 31.0°C25.1°C | 25.1°C | 183 | 24.9 | 12.512 h |
| July | 30.7°C24.8°C | 24.8°C | 185 | 25.3 | 12.412 h |
| August | 30.7°C24.7°C | 24.7°C | 213 | 26.0 | 12.312 h |
| September | 30.3°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 244 | 27.6 | 12.212 h |
| October | 29.3°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 310 | 29.1 | 12.012 h |
| November | 28.2°C23.8°C | 23.8°C | 384 | 27.9 | 11.812 h |
| December | 27.5°C23.5°C | 23.5°C | 412 | 26.0 | 11.812 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
- Pasir Mas in MayMalaysia · 14 kmHigh 31.8°C · Low 24.4°C · 178 mm rain
- Pasir Puteh in MayMalaysia · 37 kmHigh 31.4°C · Low 24.8°C · 170 mm rain
- Kuala Krai in MayMalaysia · 66 kmHigh 31.8°C · Low 23.9°C · 225 mm rain
- Yala in MayThailand · 116 kmHigh 32.5°C · Low 24.0°C · 151 mm rain
- Kuala Nerus in MayMalaysia · 120 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 24.2°C · 225 mm rain
- Kuala Terengganu in MayMalaysia · 133 kmHigh 30.6°C · Low 24.8°C · 129 mm rain
- Pendang in MayMalaysia · 196 kmHigh 30.5°C · Low 24.5°C · 237 mm rain
- Sungai Petani in MayMalaysia · 201 kmHigh 30.2°C · Low 24.8°C · 215 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 Kota Bharu) is explained once on the Kota Bharu year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Pasir Mas lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.