Climate averages 1991–2020
Sandakan weather
in May.
A hot, very wet month: the warmest and the 6th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a hot month in Sandakan: daytime highs average 30.3°C and nights cool to about 24.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the warmest month of the year.
Expect about 237 mm of rain on roughly 27 days, which makes May a very wet month (the 6th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 23 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Lahad Datu (94 km away). In May its highs average 29.6°C, 0.7°C cooler than Sandakan, with 177 mm of rain.
Among the 72 cities listed in Malaysia, Sandakan ranks joint 16th of 72 for the warmest May highs and joint 64th of 72 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 72 cities is 30.1°C; Sandakan is 0.2°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 0.2°C to 30.1°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 237 mm to 244 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
Sandakan climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.8°C23.8°C | 23.8°C | 287 | 27.8 | 11.812 h |
| February | 28.1°C23.8°C | 23.8°C | 217 | 23.8 | 11.912 h |
| March | 29.0°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 197 | 23.5 | 12.112 h |
| April | 30.0°C24.6°C | 24.6°C | 169 | 21.9 | 12.212 h |
| May, selected | 30.3°C24.9°C | 24.9°C | 237 | 26.9 | 12.412 h |
| June | 30.1°C24.6°C | 24.6°C | 244 | 26.3 | 12.512 h |
| July | 30.0°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 222 | 26.0 | 12.412 h |
| August | 30.2°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 225 | 26.6 | 12.312 h |
| September | 30.1°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 243 | 26.8 | 12.212 h |
| October | 29.5°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 282 | 29.0 | 12.012 h |
| November | 28.9°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 278 | 28.5 | 11.912 h |
| December | 28.5°C24.0°C | 24.0°C | 289 | 29.5 | 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
- Lahad Datu in MayMalaysia · 94 kmHigh 29.6°C · Low 24.4°C · 177 mm rain
- Tawau in MayMalaysia · 179 kmHigh 29.3°C · Low 24.5°C · 216 mm rain
- Keningau in MayMalaysia · 224 kmHigh 30.1°C · Low 22.1°C · 163 mm rain
- Kota Kinabalu in MayMalaysia · 227 kmHigh 29.3°C · Low 24.8°C · 163 mm rain
- Putatan in MayMalaysia · 228 kmHigh 29.5°C · Low 24.5°C · 163 mm rain
- Tarakan in MayIndonesia · 287 kmHigh 28.6°C · Low 25.2°C · 249 mm rain
- Jolo in MayPhilippines · 320 kmHigh 28.5°C · Low 26.3°C · 104 mm rain
- Labuan in MayMalaysia · 324 kmHigh 29.9°C · Low 25.8°C · 114 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 Sandakan) is explained once on the Sandakan year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.