Climate averages 1991–2020
Tawau weather
in May.
A hot, very wet month: the joint 3rd warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a hot month in Tawau: daytime highs average 29.3°C and nights cool to about 24.5°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 3rd warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 216 mm of rain on roughly 30 days, which makes May a very wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 12 h 19 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Lahad Datu (99 km away). In May its highs average 29.6°C, about as warm as Tawau, with 177 mm of rain.
Among the 72 cities listed in Malaysia, Tawau ranks joint 68th of 72 for the warmest May highs and 39th of 72 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 72 cities is 30.1°C; Tawau is 0.7°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 0.4°C to 28.9°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 216 mm to 212 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
Tawau climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.9°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 156 | 21.5 | 11.912 h |
| February | 29.3°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 113 | 16.7 | 12.012 h |
| March | 29.6°C24.3°C | 24.3°C | 144 | 21.9 | 12.112 h |
| April | 29.6°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 163 | 25.4 | 12.212 h |
| May, selected | 29.3°C24.5°C | 24.5°C | 216 | 29.5 | 12.312 h |
| June | 28.9°C24.4°C | 24.4°C | 212 | 28.1 | 12.412 h |
| July | 28.7°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 200 | 28.1 | 12.312 h |
| August | 28.9°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 186 | 27.9 | 12.312 h |
| September | 29.0°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 176 | 26.6 | 12.112 h |
| October | 29.0°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 214 | 28.7 | 12.012 h |
| November | 28.9°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 192 | 27.9 | 11.912 h |
| December | 28.9°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 190 | 26.4 | 11.912 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 · 99 kmHigh 29.6°C · Low 24.4°C · 177 mm rain
- Tarakan in MayIndonesia · 109 kmHigh 28.6°C · Low 25.2°C · 249 mm rain
- Sandakan in MayMalaysia · 179 kmHigh 30.3°C · Low 24.9°C · 237 mm rain
- Keningau in MayMalaysia · 227 kmHigh 30.1°C · Low 22.1°C · 163 mm rain
- Putatan in MayMalaysia · 276 kmHigh 29.5°C · Low 24.5°C · 163 mm rain
- Kota Kinabalu in MayMalaysia · 279 kmHigh 29.3°C · Low 24.8°C · 163 mm rain
- Labuan in MayMalaysia · 315 kmHigh 29.9°C · Low 25.8°C · 114 mm rain
- Bandar Seri Begawan in MayBrunei · 335 kmHigh 30.5°C · Low 24.9°C · 148 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 Tawau) is explained once on the Tawau year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.