Climate averages 1991–2020
Maputo weather
in May.
A warm, fairly dry month: the 9th warmest and the 4th driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Maputo: daytime highs average 25.1°C and nights cool to about 17.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 9th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 23 mm of rain on roughly 3 days, which makes May a fairly dry month (the 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 52 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Matola (12 km away). In May its highs average 25.8°C, 0.7°C warmer than Maputo, with 23 mm of rain.
Among the 22 cities listed in Mozambique, Maputo ranks 19th of 22 for the warmest May highs and joint 15th of 22 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 22 cities is 26.6°C; Maputo is 1.5°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 1.5°C to 23.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 23 mm to 12 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
Maputo climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.2°C22.6°C | 22.6°C | 115 | 11.9 | 13.614 h |
| February | 28.4°C22.7°C | 22.7°C | 95 | 10.6 | 13.013 h |
| March | 27.9°C22.0°C | 22.0°C | 73 | 10.2 | 12.312 h |
| April | 26.4°C20.0°C | 20.0°C | 42 | 6.5 | 11.511 h |
| May, selected | 25.1°C17.7°C | 17.7°C | 23 | 3.3 | 10.911 h |
| June | 23.6°C15.6°C | 15.6°C | 12 | 2.5 | 10.511 h |
| July | 23.0°C15.0°C | 15.0°C | 11 | 2.6 | 10.711 h |
| August | 24.3°C16.2°C | 16.2°C | 13 | 2.5 | 11.211 h |
| September | 25.7°C17.9°C | 17.9°C | 31 | 3.8 | 11.912 h |
| October | 25.8°C19.0°C | 19.0°C | 51 | 6.8 | 12.713 h |
| November | 26.8°C20.5°C | 20.5°C | 91 | 9.9 | 13.413 h |
| December | 27.9°C21.9°C | 21.9°C | 103 | 10.3 | 13.714 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
- Matola in MayMozambique · 12 kmHigh 25.8°C · Low 17.4°C · 23 mm rain
- Ressano Garcia in MayMozambique · 83 kmHigh 27.2°C · Low 16.1°C · 14 mm rain
- Manzini in MayEswatini · 134 kmHigh 23.3°C · Low 11.3°C · 24 mm rain
- Xai-Xai in MayMozambique · 147 kmHigh 26.3°C · Low 18.6°C · 28 mm rain
- Mbabane in MayEswatini · 150 kmHigh 20.4°C · Low 9.5°C · 32 mm rain
- Mbombela in MaySouth Africa · 171 kmHigh 23.8°C · Low 10.6°C · 19 mm rain
- Chibuto in MayMozambique · 171 kmHigh 26.1°C · Low 17.0°C · 17 mm rain
- Piet Retief in MaySouth Africa · 211 kmHigh 20.2°C · Low 8.5°C · 18 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 Maputo) is explained once on the Maputo year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Matola lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.