Climate averages 1991–2020
Richards Bay weather
in May.
A warm, moderately wet month: the joint 8th warmest and the 5th 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 Richards Bay: daytime highs average 24.7°C and nights cool to about 17.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 8th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 56 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 10 h 42 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is KwaDukuza (95 km away). In May its highs average 24.0°C, 0.7°C cooler than Richards Bay, with 44 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Richards Bay ranks 2nd of 95 for the warmest May highs and 91st of 95 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 95 cities is 21.0°C; Richards Bay is 3.7°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 1.6°C to 23.1°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 56 mm to 39 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
Richards Bay climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28.6°C22.4°C | 22.4°C | 108 | 13.5 | 13.714 h |
| February | 28.7°C22.6°C | 22.6°C | 95 | 11.9 | 13.113 h |
| March | 28.0°C21.8°C | 21.8°C | 97 | 12.3 | 12.312 h |
| April | 26.2°C19.9°C | 19.9°C | 79 | 10.4 | 11.411 h |
| May, selected | 24.7°C17.7°C | 17.7°C | 56 | 7.6 | 10.711 h |
| June | 23.1°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 39 | 6.6 | 10.310 h |
| July | 22.6°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 47 | 6.9 | 10.510 h |
| August | 23.6°C15.9°C | 15.9°C | 39 | 7.0 | 11.111 h |
| September | 24.7°C17.4°C | 17.4°C | 54 | 8.2 | 11.912 h |
| October | 25.0°C18.4°C | 18.4°C | 79 | 12.2 | 12.813 h |
| November | 26.2°C19.8°C | 19.8°C | 93 | 13.2 | 13.514 h |
| December | 27.8°C21.4°C | 21.4°C | 86 | 11.7 | 13.914 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
- KwaDukuza in MaySouth Africa · 95 kmHigh 24.0°C · Low 15.7°C · 44 mm rain
- Ntuzuma in MaySouth Africa · 150 kmHigh 24.0°C · Low 14.1°C · 43 mm rain
- Durban in MaySouth Africa · 154 kmHigh 23.5°C · Low 16.8°C · 43 mm rain
- Pinetown in MaySouth Africa · 161 kmHigh 22.8°C · Low 13.6°C · 43 mm rain
- Vryheid in MaySouth Africa · 166 kmHigh 21.3°C · Low 8.1°C · 19 mm rain
- Mpumalanga in MaySouth Africa · 178 kmHigh 22.4°C · Low 10.4°C · 33 mm rain
- Pietermaritzburg in MaySouth Africa · 185 kmHigh 22.6°C · Low 10.1°C · 29 mm rain
- Dundee, South Africa in MaySouth Africa · 189 kmHigh 20.9°C · Low 8.7°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 Richards Bay) is explained once on the Richards Bay year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.