Climate averages 1991–2020
Cape Town weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 8th warmest and the 9th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Cape Town: daytime highs average 19.3°C and nights cool to about 12.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 67 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 9th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 23 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Atlantis (40 km away). In May its highs average 19.4°C, about as warm as Cape Town, with 47 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Cape Town ranks 84th of 95 for the warmest May highs and 92nd of 95 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 95 cities is 21.0°C; Cape Town is 1.7°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 2.4°C to 16.9°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 67 mm to 108 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
Cape Town climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25.6°C17.5°C | 17.5°C | 15 | 2.8 | 14.114 h |
| February | 25.9°C17.7°C | 17.7°C | 14 | 3.0 | 13.313 h |
| March | 24.6°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 16 | 3.3 | 12.312 h |
| April | 22.0°C14.2°C | 14.2°C | 43 | 5.2 | 11.311 h |
| May, selected | 19.3°C12.1°C | 12.1°C | 67 | 8.4 | 10.410 h |
| June | 16.9°C10.0°C | 10.0°C | 108 | 11.1 | 9.910 h |
| July | 16.4°C9.3°C | 9.3°C | 98 | 9.9 | 10.110 h |
| August | 16.5°C9.5°C | 9.5°C | 87 | 10.3 | 10.911 h |
| September | 17.9°C10.8°C | 10.8°C | 51 | 8.2 | 11.912 h |
| October | 20.4°C12.8°C | 12.8°C | 33 | 5.8 | 12.913 h |
| November | 22.1°C14.4°C | 14.4°C | 30 | 5.1 | 13.914 h |
| December | 24.3°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 17 | 3.6 | 14.414 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
- Atlantis in MaySouth Africa · 40 kmHigh 19.4°C · Low 10.3°C · 47 mm rain
- Somerset West in MaySouth Africa · 41 kmHigh 20.4°C · Low 13.2°C · 90 mm rain
- Stellenbosch in MaySouth Africa · 41 kmHigh 20.6°C · Low 11.4°C · 90 mm rain
- Paarl in MaySouth Africa · 55 kmHigh 21.4°C · Low 11.1°C · 98 mm rain
- Worcester, South Africa in MaySouth Africa · 100 kmHigh 21.3°C · Low 12.2°C · 39 mm rain
- Mossel Bay in MaySouth Africa · 344 kmHigh 20.8°C · Low 12.8°C · 40 mm rain
- Oudtshoorn in MaySouth Africa · 351 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 9.1°C · 25 mm rain
- George in MaySouth Africa · 373 kmHigh 19.5°C · Low 11.8°C · 45 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 Cape Town) is explained once on the Cape Town year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.