Climate averages 1991–2020
Dunedin weather
in May.
A cool, moderately wet month: the 9th warmest and the joint 4th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a cool month in Dunedin: daytime highs average 11.5°C and nights cool to about 5.5°C. By daytime temperature it is the 9th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 50 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the joint 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 27 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Christchurch (310 km away). In May its highs average 13.5°C, 2.0°C warmer than Dunedin, with 48 mm of rain.
Among the 11 cities listed in New Zealand, Dunedin ranks 11th of 11 for the warmest May highs and 2nd of 11 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 11 cities is 14.8°C; Dunedin is 3.3°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 2.6°C to 8.9°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 50 mm to 46 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
Dunedin climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17.4°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 89 | 12.9 | 15.315 h |
| February | 17.4°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 74 | 10.5 | 14.014 h |
| March | 16.1°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 59 | 9.5 | 12.412 h |
| April | 13.9°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 54 | 9.3 | 10.811 h |
| May, selected | 11.5°C5.5°C | 5.5°C | 50 | 9.7 | 9.49 h |
| June | 8.9°C3.2°C | 3.2°C | 46 | 9.2 | 8.79 h |
| July | 8.4°C2.3°C | 2.3°C | 39 | 8.0 | 9.09 h |
| August | 9.7°C3.1°C | 3.1°C | 41 | 9.4 | 10.210 h |
| September | 11.6°C4.4°C | 4.4°C | 50 | 10.6 | 11.712 h |
| October | 13.1°C6.1°C | 6.1°C | 74 | 13.5 | 13.413 h |
| November | 14.3°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 77 | 13.6 | 14.815 h |
| December | 16.0°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 96 | 14.4 | 15.616 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
- Christchurch in MayNew Zealand · 310 kmHigh 13.5°C · Low 5.8°C · 48 mm rain
- Wellington in MayNew Zealand · 615 kmHigh 13.8°C · Low 11.1°C · 76 mm rain
- Lower Hutt in MayNew Zealand · 628 kmHigh 14.3°C · Low 10.4°C · 70 mm rain
- Palmerston North in MayNew Zealand · 740 kmHigh 14.4°C · Low 7.9°C · 79 mm rain
- Hamilton, New Zealand in MayNew Zealand · 982 kmHigh 15.8°C · Low 8.2°C · 107 mm rain
- Tauranga in MayNew Zealand · 1024 kmHigh 15.8°C · Low 10.6°C · 113 mm rain
- Manukau City in MayNew Zealand · 1052 kmHigh 16.4°C · Low 11.5°C · 92 mm rain
- Auckland in MayNew Zealand · 1064 kmHigh 16.5°C · Low 12.1°C · 96 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 Dunedin) is explained once on the Dunedin year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.