Herāt weather in May

In May, Herāt sees average daytime highs of 30°C and overnight lows near 15°C, with 5 mm of rain across 1.2 wet days and about 13.8 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 27°C in the first days to 32°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 73% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 h 24 min at the start of May to 14 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Herāt's 6th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Herāt's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 30°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 15°; 9th coldest
Rainfall: 5 mm; 1.2 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 48 min; 5:24 AM – 7:11 PM
Cloud cover: 25%; 6th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 7.64 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.8; out of 10

Herāt is capital of Herat Province, Afghanistan.

Density: 4,016/km²; people per km²

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← April Herāt year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 27°C in the first days to 32°C by the end.

A typical May day in Herāt reaches about 30°C in the afternoon and slips back to 15°C overnight — a 15°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 24°C and 35°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 6°C warmer than April and about 4°C cooler than June.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	31	31	31	31	31	31	32	32	32	32
Avg low (°C)	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	17

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	27	13
2	27	13
3	27	13
4	28	13
5	28	13
6	28	14
7	28	14
8	28	14
9	29	14
10	29	14
11	29	14
12	29	14
13	29	14
14	29	15
15	30	15
16	30	15
17	30	15
18	30	15
19	30	15
20	30	15
21	30	15
22	31	15
23	31	15
24	31	16
25	31	16
26	31	16
27	31	16
28	32	16
29	32	16
30	32	16
31	32	17

How May really feels in Herāt

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 1 day that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

The story in May is heat — humidity pushes the afternoon "feels like" well above the raw temperature.

Herāt weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 5th-warmest and 7th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	10° / -1°	49	7.4	2	10	2.5
Feb	12° / 1°	60	8.1	1.6	10.7	3.4
Mar	17° / 5°	68	8.9	0.6	11.7	5.8
Apr	24° / 10°	34	4.6	0	12.8	7.8
May	30° / 15°	5	1.2	0	13.8	6.8
Jun	34° / 18°	0	0	0	14.3	4.5
Jul	35° / 20°	0	0	0	14.1	3.6
Aug	34° / 18°	0	0	0	13.3	4.5
Sep	30° / 14°	0	0	0	12.2	6.8
Oct	24° / 8°	3	0.6	0	11.1	9.2
Nov	17° / 4°	17	3.2	0.1	10.2	6.8
Dec	12° / 0°	28	5.1	0.7	9.7	3.9

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 73% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 12% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 15%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	74	74	74	75	76	77	77	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	86	88	88	88	89	90	90	90	90	92	92	92	93	93	93	95
Cloudier (%)	26	26	26	25	24	23	23	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	14	12	12	12	11	10	10	10	10	8	8	8	7	7	7	5

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	74	26
2	74	26
3	74	26
4	75	25
5	76	24
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	79	21
9	80	20
10	81	19
11	82	18
12	83	17
13	84	16
14	85	15
15	86	14
16	86	14
17	88	12
18	88	12
19	88	12
20	89	11
21	90	10
22	90	10
23	90	10
24	90	10
25	92	8
26	92	8
27	92	8
28	93	7
29	93	7
30	93	7
31	95	5

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Herāt gets around 5 mm of rain over 1.2 wet days in May. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 4% and peaks near 9% on the wettest days. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	9	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0

	Rain chance (%)
1	9
2	8
3	8
4	7
5	7
6	7
7	6
8	6
9	6
10	5
11	5
12	4
13	4
14	4
15	3
16	3
17	3
18	2
19	2
20	2
21	2
22	2
23	1
24	1
25	1
26	1
27	1
28	1
29	1
30	1
31	0

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of May feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, May lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in May

Winds average 11 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 13 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	10	calm
2	10	calm
3	10	calm
4	10	calm
5	10	calm
6	10	calm
7	10	calm
8	10	calm
9	10	calm
10	11	calm
11	11	calm
12	11	calm
13	11	calm
14	11	calm
15	11	calm
16	11	calm
17	11	calm
18	11	calm
19	12	calm
20	12	calm
21	12	calm
22	12	calm
23	12	light breeze
24	12	light breeze
25	12	light breeze
26	12	light breeze
27	12	light breeze
28	13	light breeze
29	13	light breeze
30	13	light breeze
31	13	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 h 24 min at the start of May to 14 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 42 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:38 AM to 5:15 AM, and sunset from 6:59 PM to 7:22 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	13.4	13.4	13.4	13.4	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.1
Sunrise (AM)	5:38	5:37	5:36	5:35	5:34	5:33	5:32	5:31	5:30	5:29	5:28	5:27	5:26	5:25	5:25	5:24	5:23	5:22	5:22	5:21	5:20	5:20	5:19	5:19	5:18	5:18	5:17	5:17	5:16	5:16	5:15
Sunset (PM)	6:59	7:00	7:01	7:02	7:02	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:06	7:07	7:08	7:09	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:16	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:18	7:19	7:20	7:20	7:21	7:22

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.4	5:38	6:59
2	13.4	5:37	7:00
3	13.4	5:36	7:01
4	13.4	5:35	7:02
5	13.5	5:34	7:02
6	13.5	5:33	7:03
7	13.5	5:32	7:04
8	13.6	5:31	7:05
9	13.6	5:30	7:06
10	13.6	5:29	7:06
11	13.7	5:28	7:07
12	13.7	5:27	7:08
13	13.7	5:26	7:09
14	13.7	5:25	7:09
15	13.8	5:25	7:10
16	13.8	5:24	7:11
17	13.8	5:23	7:12
18	13.8	5:22	7:13
19	13.9	5:22	7:13
20	13.9	5:21	7:14
21	13.9	5:20	7:15
22	13.9	5:20	7:16
23	14.0	5:19	7:16
24	14.0	5:19	7:17
25	14.0	5:18	7:18
26	14.0	5:18	7:18
27	14.0	5:17	7:19
28	14.1	5:17	7:20
29	14.1	5:16	7:20
30	14.1	5:16	7:21
31	14.1	5:15	7:22

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 7.64 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3 kWh/m² to a high of 8.19 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 7.64 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.3	7.3	7.3	7.4	7.4	7.4	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.6	7.6	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.8	7.8	7.9	7.9	7.9	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.1
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	7.1	Intense
2	7.2	Intense
3	7.2	Intense
4	7.2	Intense
5	7.3	Intense
6	7.3	Intense
7	7.3	Intense
8	7.4	Intense
9	7.4	Intense
10	7.4	Intense
11	7.5	Intense
12	7.5	Intense
13	7.5	Intense
14	7.6	Intense
15	7.6	Intense
16	7.7	Intense
17	7.7	Intense
18	7.7	Intense
19	7.8	Intense
20	7.8	Intense
21	7.8	Intense
22	7.8	Intense
23	7.9	Intense
24	7.9	Intense
25	7.9	Intense
26	8.0	Intense
27	8.0	Intense
28	8.0	Intense
29	8.0	Intense
30	8.0	Intense
31	8.1	Intense

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Herāt?

Our two travel scores rate May for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

6.8

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

8.7

Beach & pool

2nd-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Herāt for sightseeing. The water and warmth also suit a beach or pool day.

What to pack for Herāt in May

From May's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In May, Herāt sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 15°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

light clothessun protection

UV index in Herāt in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 9 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Herāt peaks around July 14 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 12 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	5	6	8	9	11	12	10	9	6	4	3
Level	Moderate	High	High	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	5	High
Mar	6	High
Apr	8	Very high
May	9	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	12	Extreme
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	6	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Herāt in May

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where May falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Herāt is worst in May — around 29 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.0× the cleanest month (December, 15 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	15	18	24	29	29	23	28	24	26	22	17	15
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	15	Moderate
Feb	18	Moderate
Mar	24	Moderate
Apr	29	Moderate
May	29	Moderate
Jun	23	Moderate
Jul	28	Moderate
Aug	24	Moderate
Sep	26	Moderate
Oct	22	Moderate
Nov	17	Moderate
Dec	15	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Herāt?

Herāt sits at 34.3°N, 62.2°E, 927 m above sea level, in Afghanistan. The nearest listed city is Karukh, 38 km away.

Topography around Herāt

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Herāt.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Herāt has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 88 m around an average of 934 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 742 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,763 m.

The land around Herāt is covered by artificial surfaces (82%) within 3 km, cropland (50%) and bare terrain (41%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (72%) within 80 km.

3 km

88 m

artificial surfaces 82%

16 km

742 m

cropland 50%

80 km

2,763 m

bare terrain 72%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain

← April Herāt year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

May weather nearby: Karukh 38 km · Eslam Qaleh 110 km · Shīnḏanḏ 116 km · Kushk 119 km · Tāybād 138 km · Torbat-e Jām 175 km · Khvāf 190 km · Shahrak 195 km

Afghanistan travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / F; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 17% of US; price level, 2024
GDP per capita: $417; 2024
Happiness: 1.4 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 31%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 4; per 100k, 2021
Road deaths: 15.9; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 446
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Herāt (34.3482°, 62.1997°, elevation 927 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	27	13
2	27	13
3	27	13
4	28	13
5	28	13
6	28	14
7	28	14
8	28	14
9	29	14
10	29	14
11	29	14
12	29	14
13	29	14
14	29	15
15	30	15
16	30	15
17	30	15
18	30	15
19	30	15
20	30	15
21	30	15
22	31	15
23	31	15
24	31	16
25	31	16
26	31	16
27	31	16
28	32	16
29	32	16
30	32	16
31	32	17

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	74	26
2	74	26
3	74	26
4	75	25
5	76	24
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	79	21
9	80	20
10	81	19
11	82	18
12	83	17
13	84	16
14	85	15
15	86	14
16	86	14
17	88	12
18	88	12
19	88	12
20	89	11
21	90	10
22	90	10
23	90	10
24	90	10
25	92	8
26	92	8
27	92	8
28	93	7
29	93	7
30	93	7
31	95	5

	Rain chance (%)
1	9
2	8
3	8
4	7
5	7
6	7
7	6
8	6
9	6
10	5
11	5
12	4
13	4
14	4
15	3
16	3
17	3
18	2
19	2
20	2
21	2
22	2
23	1
24	1
25	1
26	1
27	1
28	1
29	1
30	1
31	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	27	13
2	27	13
3	27	13
4	28	13
5	28	13
6	28	14
7	28	14
8	28	14
9	29	14
10	29	14
11	29	14
12	29	14
13	29	14
14	29	15
15	30	15
16	30	15
17	30	15
18	30	15
19	30	15
20	30	15
21	30	15
22	31	15
23	31	15
24	31	16
25	31	16
26	31	16
27	31	16
28	32	16
29	32	16
30	32	16
31	32	17

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	74	26
2	74	26
3	74	26
4	75	25
5	76	24
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	79	21
9	80	20
10	81	19
11	82	18
12	83	17
13	84	16
14	85	15
15	86	14
16	86	14
17	88	12
18	88	12
19	88	12
20	89	11
21	90	10
22	90	10
23	90	10
24	90	10
25	92	8
26	92	8
27	92	8
28	93	7
29	93	7
30	93	7
31	95	5

	Rain chance (%)
1	9
2	8
3	8
4	7
5	7
6	7
7	6
8	6
9	6
10	5
11	5
12	4
13	4
14	4
15	3
16	3
17	3
18	2
19	2
20	2
21	2
22	2
23	1
24	1
25	1
26	1
27	1
28	1
29	1
30	1
31	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	27	13
2	27	13
3	27	13
4	28	13
5	28	13
6	28	14
7	28	14
8	28	14
9	29	14
10	29	14
11	29	14
12	29	14
13	29	14
14	29	15
15	30	15
16	30	15
17	30	15
18	30	15
19	30	15
20	30	15
21	30	15
22	31	15
23	31	15
24	31	16
25	31	16
26	31	16
27	31	16
28	32	16
29	32	16
30	32	16
31	32	17

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	74	26
2	74	26
3	74	26
4	75	25
5	76	24
6	77	23
7	77	23
8	79	21
9	80	20
10	81	19
11	82	18
12	83	17
13	84	16
14	85	15
15	86	14
16	86	14
17	88	12
18	88	12
19	88	12
20	89	11
21	90	10
22	90	10
23	90	10
24	90	10
25	92	8
26	92	8
27	92	8
28	93	7
29	93	7
30	93	7
31	95	5

	Rain chance (%)
1	9
2	8
3	8
4	7
5	7
6	7
7	6
8	6
9	6
10	5
11	5
12	4
13	4
14	4
15	3
16	3
17	3
18	2
19	2
20	2
21	2
22	2
23	1
24	1
25	1
26	1
27	1
28	1
29	1
30	1
31	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100