Climate averages 1991–2020
Dar es Salaam weather
in May.
A hot, wet month: the 9th warmest and the 10th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a hot month in Dar es Salaam: daytime highs average 28.2°C and nights cool to about 23.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 9th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 152 mm of rain on roughly 20 days, which makes May a wet month (the 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 11 h 48 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Vikindu (21 km away). In May its highs average 27.5°C, 0.6°C cooler than Dar es Salaam, with 130 mm of rain.
Among the 43 cities listed in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam ranks 9th of 43 for the warmest May highs and 42nd of 43 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 43 cities is 26.1°C; Dar es Salaam is 2.1°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs fall by 0.4°C to 27.8°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 152 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
Dar es Salaam climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30.8°C25.4°C | 25.4°C | 53 | 10.0 | 12.512 h |
| February | 31.4°C25.5°C | 25.5°C | 52 | 8.3 | 12.312 h |
| March | 30.6°C25.0°C | 25.0°C | 156 | 21.7 | 12.112 h |
| April | 29.0°C24.2°C | 24.2°C | 229 | 26.3 | 12.012 h |
| May, selected | 28.2°C23.6°C | 23.6°C | 152 | 20.4 | 11.812 h |
| June | 27.8°C22.7°C | 22.7°C | 39 | 11.4 | 11.712 h |
| July | 27.6°C22.1°C | 22.1°C | 25 | 8.2 | 11.812 h |
| August | 28.0°C21.9°C | 21.9°C | 25 | 8.6 | 11.912 h |
| September | 29.0°C22.4°C | 22.4°C | 23 | 7.4 | 12.112 h |
| October | 29.8°C23.3°C | 23.3°C | 57 | 11.0 | 12.312 h |
| November | 29.9°C24.1°C | 24.1°C | 92 | 17.5 | 12.412 h |
| December | 30.2°C24.9°C | 24.9°C | 94 | 18.0 | 12.513 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
- Vikindu in MayTanzania · 21 kmHigh 27.5°C · Low 23.4°C · 130 mm rain
- Kibaha in MayTanzania · 39 kmHigh 28.0°C · Low 21.9°C · 128 mm rain
- Bagamoyo in MayTanzania · 59 kmHigh 28.4°C · Low 22.9°C · 130 mm rain
- Zanzibar in MayTanzania · 74 kmHigh 27.7°C · Low 24.3°C · 146 mm rain
- Morogoro in MayTanzania · 178 kmHigh 26.9°C · Low 20.1°C · 59 mm rain
- Tanga in MayTanzania · 196 kmHigh 28.0°C · Low 23.2°C · 165 mm rain
- Handeni in MayTanzania · 208 kmHigh 25.2°C · Low 19.2°C · 123 mm rain
- Kilosa in MayTanzania · 252 kmHigh 26.7°C · Low 19.3°C · 52 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 Dar es Salaam) is explained once on the Dar es Salaam year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.