Sanandaj weather in May

In May, Sanandaj sees average daytime highs of 23°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 29 mm of rain across 6.8 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 20°C in the first days to 26°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 57% 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 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Sanandaj's 6th-clearest and 3rd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Sanandaj's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 23°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 8th coldest
Rainfall: 29 mm; 6.8 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 54 min; 5:23 AM – 7:14 PM
Cloud cover: 37%; 6th clearest
Wind: 8 km/h; 3rd windiest
Solar energy: 7.32 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.5; out of 10

Sanandaj is city in Kurdistan Province, Iran.

Air quality: High; PM10 99.6 µg/m³ · 2010
Density: 115/km²; people per km²

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

← April Sanandaj 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 20°C in the first days to 26°C by the end.

A typical May day in Sanandaj reaches about 23°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 18°C and 27°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 6°C warmer than April and about 8°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)	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24	25	25	25	26	26	26	26	27
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12

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

How May really feels in Sanandaj

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.

Sanandaj 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	2° / -8°	64	9.8	9.2	9.9	0.0
Feb	4° / -6°	67	9.6	8	10.7	0.1
Mar	10° / -1°	76	11.2	5.2	11.7	2.4
Apr	16° / 5°	62	10.7	0.7	12.9	5.2
May	23° / 9°	29	6.8	0	13.8	7.5
Jun	30° / 14°	2	0.5	0	14.3	6.7
Jul	34° / 17°	1	0.2	0	14.1	3.8
Aug	34° / 16°	0	0.2	0	13.3	3.9
Sep	29° / 12°	1	0.5	0	12.2	7.3
Oct	22° / 7°	26	5	0	11.1	7.9
Nov	13° / 1°	52	7.7	1.4	10.1	3.7
Dec	6° / -4°	57	8.3	5.9	9.7	0.5

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 57% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 20% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 23%. 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 (%)	65	65	65	66	66	67	68	69	69	71	72	73	75	75	77	79	80	81	82	82	84	84	85	85	86	87	87	88	89	89	90
Cloudier (%)	35	35	35	34	34	33	32	31	31	29	28	27	25	25	23	21	20	19	18	18	16	16	15	15	14	13	13	12	11	11	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	65	35
3	65	35
4	66	34
5	66	34
6	67	33
7	68	32
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	71	29
11	72	28
12	73	27
13	75	25
14	75	25
15	77	23
16	79	21
17	80	20
18	81	19
19	82	18
20	82	18
21	84	16
22	84	16
23	85	15
24	85	15
25	86	14
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	88	12
29	89	11
30	89	11
31	90	10

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Sanandaj gets around 29 mm of rain over 6.8 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 22% and peaks near 32% 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 (%)	32	32	31	31	30	30	29	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	23	22	21	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	14	13	12	11	10	9

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

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 8 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 8 km/h on the calmest days to 8 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)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
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	8	calm
2	8	calm
3	8	calm
4	8	calm
5	8	calm
6	8	calm
7	8	calm
8	8	calm
9	8	calm
10	8	calm
11	8	calm
12	8	calm
13	8	calm
14	8	calm
15	8	calm
16	8	calm
17	8	calm
18	8	calm
19	8	calm
20	8	calm
21	8	calm
22	8	calm
23	8	calm
24	8	calm
25	8	calm
26	8	calm
27	8	calm
28	8	calm
29	8	calm
30	8	calm
31	8	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 h 24 min at the start of May to 14 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 48 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:37 AM to 5:14 AM, and sunset from 7:01 PM to 7:25 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	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.2	14.2
Sunrise (AM)	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	5:24	5:23	5:23	5:22	5:21	5:20	5:20	5:19	5:18	5:18	5:17	5:17	5:16	5:16	5:15	5:15	5:14	5:14
Sunset (PM)	7:01	7:02	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:06	7:07	7:08	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:21	7:22	7:23	7:24	7:24	7:25

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.4	5:37	7:01
2	13.4	5:36	7:02
3	13.5	5:35	7:03
4	13.5	5:34	7:04
5	13.5	5:33	7:05
6	13.6	5:32	7:06
7	13.6	5:31	7:06
8	13.6	5:30	7:07
9	13.7	5:29	7:08
10	13.7	5:28	7:09
11	13.7	5:27	7:10
12	13.7	5:26	7:11
13	13.8	5:25	7:11
14	13.8	5:24	7:12
15	13.8	5:23	7:13
16	13.9	5:23	7:14
17	13.9	5:22	7:15
18	13.9	5:21	7:15
19	13.9	5:20	7:16
20	14.0	5:20	7:17
21	14.0	5:19	7:18
22	14.0	5:18	7:19
23	14.0	5:18	7:19
24	14.0	5:17	7:20
25	14.1	5:17	7:21
26	14.1	5:16	7:21
27	14.1	5:16	7:22
28	14.1	5:15	7:23
29	14.1	5:15	7:24
30	14.2	5:14	7:24
31	14.2	5:14	7:25

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 7.32 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.73 kWh/m² to a high of 8.06 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 7.32 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	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)	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.9	6.9	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.3	7.3	7.3	7.4	7.4	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.6	7.6	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.8	7.8
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	6.8	Intense
2	6.8	Intense
3	6.8	Intense
4	6.9	Intense
5	6.9	Intense
6	6.9	Intense
7	7.0	Intense
8	7.0	Intense
9	7.0	Intense
10	7.1	Intense
11	7.1	Intense
12	7.2	Intense
13	7.2	Intense
14	7.3	Intense
15	7.3	Intense
16	7.3	Intense
17	7.4	Intense
18	7.4	Intense
19	7.5	Intense
20	7.5	Intense
21	7.5	Intense
22	7.6	Intense
23	7.6	Intense
24	7.7	Intense
25	7.7	Intense
26	7.7	Intense
27	7.7	Intense
28	7.8	Intense
29	7.8	Intense
30	7.8	Intense
31	7.8	Intense

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Sanandaj?

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

7.5

Sightseeing

2nd-best month of the year

5.6

Beach & pool

5th-best month of the year

May is one of the better times to visit Sanandaj for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Sanandaj in May

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

In May, Sanandaj sees daytime highs around 23°C and nights near 9°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 7 days see rain.

sun protectionlight clothes

UV index in Sanandaj in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 10 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Sanandaj peaks around July 14 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	4	5	5	7	10	11	11	11	9	6	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	4	Moderate
Feb	5	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	7	Very high
May	10	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	11	Extreme
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	6	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Sanandaj 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 Sanandaj is worst in May — around 35 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	23	26	32	35	35	28	27	24	27	27	24	23
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	23	Moderate
Feb	26	Moderate
Mar	32	Moderate
Apr	35	Moderate
May	35	Poor
Jun	28	Moderate
Jul	27	Moderate
Aug	24	Moderate
Sep	27	Moderate
Oct	27	Moderate
Nov	24	Moderate
Dec	23	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Sanandaj?

Sanandaj sits at 35.3°N, 47.0°E, 1,494 m above sea level, in Iran. The nearest listed city is Kāmyārān, 58 km away.

Topography around Sanandaj

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sanandaj has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 541 m around an average of 1,555 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,335 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,736 m.

The land around Sanandaj is covered by artificial surfaces (55%) and grassland (30%) within 3 km, grassland (75%) within 16 km, and grassland (59%) and cropland (37%) within 80 km.

3 km

541 m

artificial surfaces 55%

16 km

1,335 m

grassland 75%

80 km

2,736 m

grassland 59%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Kāmyārān 58 km · Pāveh 66 km · Dīvāndarreh 67 km · Javānrūd 73 km · Ravānsar 74 km · Qorveh 75 km · Marīvān 77 km · Sonqor 81 km

Iran travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / F; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 352% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $3,924; 2025
Happiness: 5.2 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 94%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 2.4; per 100k, 2014
Road deaths: 21.5; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 492
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 Sanandaj (35.315°, 46.9988°, elevation 1,494 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	19	7
2	19	7
3	20	7
4	20	7
5	20	8
6	20	8
7	20	8
8	21	8
9	21	8
10	21	8
11	21	9
12	22	9
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	22	9
16	23	9
17	23	9
18	23	10
19	23	10
20	24	10
21	24	10
22	24	10
23	24	10
24	25	11
25	25	11
26	25	11
27	26	11
28	26	11
29	26	11
30	26	12
31	27	12

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	65	35
3	65	35
4	66	34
5	66	34
6	67	33
7	68	32
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	71	29
11	72	28
12	73	27
13	75	25
14	75	25
15	77	23
16	79	21
17	80	20
18	81	19
19	82	18
20	82	18
21	84	16
22	84	16
23	85	15
24	85	15
25	86	14
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	88	12
29	89	11
30	89	11
31	90	10

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	65	35
3	65	35
4	66	34
5	66	34
6	67	33
7	68	32
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	71	29
11	72	28
12	73	27
13	75	25
14	75	25
15	77	23
16	79	21
17	80	20
18	81	19
19	82	18
20	82	18
21	84	16
22	84	16
23	85	15
24	85	15
25	86	14
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	88	12
29	89	11
30	89	11
31	90	10

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	65	35
2	65	35
3	65	35
4	66	34
5	66	34
6	67	33
7	68	32
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	71	29
11	72	28
12	73	27
13	75	25
14	75	25
15	77	23
16	79	21
17	80	20
18	81	19
19	82	18
20	82	18
21	84	16
22	84	16
23	85	15
24	85	15
25	86	14
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	88	12
29	89	11
30	89	11
31	90	10

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

	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