Canberra weather in May

In May, Canberra sees average daytime highs of 15°C and overnight lows near 4°C, with 28 mm of rain across 4.3 wet days and about 10.2 hours of daylight. It is the 9th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 17°C in the first days to 13°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 41% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 36 min at the start of May to 9 h 48 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Canberra's 8th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Canberra's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 15°; 9th warmest
Overnight low: 4°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 28 mm; 4.3 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 06 min; 7:55 AM – 6:04 PM
Cloud cover: 50%; 8th clearest
Wind: 9 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 2.86 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.3; out of 10

Canberra is capital city of Australia.

Air quality: Moderate; PM2.5 13.9 µg/m³ · 2019
Density: 779/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1913

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

← April Canberra 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 ease over the month, from about 17°C in the first days to 13°C by the end.

A typical May day in Canberra reaches about 15°C in the afternoon and slips back to 4°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 12°C and 18°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 4°C cooler than April and about 3°C warmer 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)	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13
Avg low (°C)	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3

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

How May really feels in Canberra

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days 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

May sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Canberra weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 9th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	27° / 14°	49	6.6	14.1	7.2
Feb	26° / 14°	51	6	13.3	7.4
Mar	23° / 11°	38	5.3	12.3	7.8
Apr	19° / 8°	27	4	11.1	7.1
May	15° / 4°	28	4.3	10.2	5.3
Jun	12° / 2°	51	6.8	9.7	3.3
Jul	11° / 1°	38	6.7	9.9	2.9
Aug	12° / 2°	49	7.5	10.7	3.6
Sep	16° / 4°	51	7.4	11.8	5.2
Oct	19° / 7°	56	7.3	12.9	6.6
Nov	22° / 9°	58	8.4	13.9	7.0
Dec	25° / 12°	56	6.9	14.3	7.5

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 41% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 18% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 41%.

	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 (%)	58	58	58	59	59	59	61	61	62	63	63	63	63	63	62	61	61	60	60	59	58	57	57	57	56	56	54	54	53	53	52
Cloudier (%)	42	42	42	41	41	41	39	39	38	37	37	37	37	37	38	39	39	40	40	41	42	43	43	43	44	44	46	46	47	47	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	58	42
2	58	42
3	58	42
4	59	41
5	59	41
6	59	41
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	63	37
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	63	37
14	63	37
15	62	38
16	61	39
17	61	39
18	60	40
19	60	40
20	59	41
21	58	42
22	57	43
23	57	43
24	57	43
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	54	46
28	54	46
29	53	47
30	53	47
31	52	48

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Canberra gets around 28 mm of rain over 4.3 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 15% and peaks near 18% on the wettest days.

	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 (%)	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	17	17	17	18	18	18

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

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 99% 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 (%)	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Comfortable (%)	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

Wind in May

Winds average 9 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 9 km/h on the calmest days to 10 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)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 36 min at the start of May to 9 h 48 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 48 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 7:43 AM to 8:06 AM, and sunset from 6:19 PM to 5:55 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)	10.6	10.6	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.8	9.8
Sunrise (AM)	7:43	7:44	7:45	7:45	7:46	7:47	7:48	7:49	7:50	7:50	7:51	7:52	7:53	7:54	7:54	7:55	7:56	7:57	7:58	7:58	7:59	8:00	8:01	8:01	8:02	8:03	8:04	8:04	8:05	8:06	8:06
Sunset (PM)	6:19	6:17	6:16	6:15	6:14	6:13	6:12	6:11	6:10	6:09	6:08	6:08	6:07	6:06	6:05	6:04	6:03	6:03	6:02	6:01	6:01	6:00	5:59	5:59	5:58	5:58	5:57	5:57	5:56	5:56	5:55

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.6	7:43	6:19
2	10.6	7:44	6:17
3	10.5	7:45	6:16
4	10.5	7:45	6:15
5	10.5	7:46	6:14
6	10.4	7:47	6:13
7	10.4	7:48	6:12
8	10.4	7:49	6:11
9	10.3	7:50	6:10
10	10.3	7:50	6:09
11	10.3	7:51	6:08
12	10.3	7:52	6:08
13	10.2	7:53	6:07
14	10.2	7:54	6:06
15	10.2	7:54	6:05
16	10.1	7:55	6:04
17	10.1	7:56	6:03
18	10.1	7:57	6:03
19	10.1	7:58	6:02
20	10.0	7:58	6:01
21	10.0	7:59	6:01
22	10.0	8:00	6:00
23	10.0	8:01	5:59
24	10.0	8:01	5:59
25	9.9	8:02	5:58
26	9.9	8:03	5:58
27	9.9	8:04	5:57
28	9.9	8:04	5:57
29	9.9	8:05	5:56
30	9.8	8:06	5:56
31	9.8	8:06	5:55

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 2.86 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.17 kWh/m² to a high of 7.23 kWh/m² in January across the year — May's 2.86 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	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)	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	3.3	Moderate
2	3.3	Moderate
3	3.3	Moderate
4	3.2	Moderate
5	3.2	Moderate
6	3.2	Moderate
7	3.1	Moderate
8	3.1	Moderate
9	3.1	Moderate
10	3.0	Moderate
11	3.0	Moderate
12	3.0	Moderate
13	3.0	Moderate
14	2.9	Moderate
15	2.9	Moderate
16	2.9	Moderate
17	2.8	Moderate
18	2.8	Moderate
19	2.8	Moderate
20	2.7	Moderate
21	2.7	Moderate
22	2.7	Moderate
23	2.6	Moderate
24	2.6	Moderate
25	2.6	Moderate
26	2.6	Moderate
27	2.5	Moderate
28	2.5	Moderate
29	2.5	Moderate
30	2.5	Moderate
31	2.4	Moderate

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Canberra

In seasonPeak

None of Canberra's seasonal hazards are active in May. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Canberra sits in the South Indian Ocean cyclone belt; the season peaks January–March.

Cyclone

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is May a good time to visit Canberra?

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

5.3

Sightseeing

8th-best month of the year

0.4

Beach & pool

9th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Canberra for sightseeing.

What to pack for Canberra in May

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

In May, Canberra sees daytime highs around 15°C and nights near 4°C. Worth packing: a warm layer. About 4 days see rain.

a warm layer

UV index in Canberra in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 3 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Canberra peaks around December 23 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	13	12	9	6	3	2	3	4	5	9	10	13
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Very high	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	13	Extreme
Feb	12	Extreme
Mar	9	Very high
Apr	6	High
May	3	Moderate
Jun	2	Moderate
Jul	3	Moderate
Aug	4	Moderate
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	9	Very high
Nov	10	Extreme
Dec	13	Extreme

Air quality in Canberra 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 Canberra is worst in December — around 36 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 7.2× the cleanest month (July, 5 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Canberra's WHO annual average of 13.9 µg/m³.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	33	16	10	12	9	6	5	7	8	9	17	36
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	33	Moderate
Feb	16	Moderate
Mar	10	Good
Apr	12	Good
May	9	Good
Jun	6	Good
Jul	5	Good
Aug	7	Good
Sep	8	Good
Oct	9	Good
Nov	17	Moderate
Dec	36	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Canberra?

Canberra sits at 35.3°S, 149.1°E, 571 m above sea level, in Australia. The nearest listed city is Tuggeranong, 16 km away.

Topography around Canberra

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Canberra has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 282 m around an average of 589 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 489 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,796 m.

The land around Canberra is covered by trees (48%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 3 km, grassland (45%) and trees (36%) within 16 km, and trees (51%) and grassland (47%) within 80 km.

3 km

282 m

trees 48%

16 km

489 m

grassland 45%

80 km

1,796 m

trees 51%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

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

May weather nearby: Tuggeranong 16 km · Goulburn 80 km · Batemans Bay 106 km · Wollongong city centre 187 km · Wollongong 187 km · Katoomba 205 km · Blue Mountains 206 km · Bathurst 212 km

Australia travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type I; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 90% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $65,130; 2025
Happiness: 6.9 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate: 0.9; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 4.9; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
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 Canberra (-35.2835°, 149.1281°, elevation 571 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). 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	17	6
2	17	6
3	17	6
4	17	5
5	17	5
6	16	5
7	16	5
8	16	5
9	16	5
10	16	5
11	16	5
12	16	4
13	15	4
14	15	4
15	15	4
16	15	4
17	15	4
18	15	4
19	15	4
20	15	4
21	14	4
22	14	4
23	14	4
24	14	4
25	14	4
26	14	3
27	14	3
28	14	3
29	13	3
30	13	3
31	13	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	58	42
2	58	42
3	58	42
4	59	41
5	59	41
6	59	41
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	63	37
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	63	37
14	63	37
15	62	38
16	61	39
17	61	39
18	60	40
19	60	40
20	59	41
21	58	42
22	57	43
23	57	43
24	57	43
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	54	46
28	54	46
29	53	47
30	53	47
31	52	48

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	58	42
2	58	42
3	58	42
4	59	41
5	59	41
6	59	41
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	63	37
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	63	37
14	63	37
15	62	38
16	61	39
17	61	39
18	60	40
19	60	40
20	59	41
21	58	42
22	57	43
23	57	43
24	57	43
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	54	46
28	54	46
29	53	47
30	53	47
31	52	48

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	58	42
2	58	42
3	58	42
4	59	41
5	59	41
6	59	41
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	63	37
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	63	37
14	63	37
15	62	38
16	61	39
17	61	39
18	60	40
19	60	40
20	59	41
21	58	42
22	57	43
23	57	43
24	57	43
25	56	44
26	56	44
27	54	46
28	54	46
29	53	47
30	53	47
31	52	48

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	98	2
2	98	2
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0