Rotorua weather in May

In May, Rotorua sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 7°C, with 101 mm of rain across 10.3 wet days and about 10 hours of daylight. It is the 8th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 15°C in the first days to 13°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 24 min at the start of May to 9 h 36 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Rotorua's 2nd-clearest and 9th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Rotorua's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 8th warmest
Overnight low: 7°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 101 mm; 10.3 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 54 min; 8:13 AM – 6:10 PM
Cloud cover: 61%; 2nd clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 9th windiest
Solar energy: 2.22 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.1; out of 10

Rotorua is city in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Air quality: Good; PM10 18.2 µg/m³ · 2012
Density: 25/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1883

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

← April Rotorua 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 15°C in the first days to 13°C by the end.

A typical May day in Rotorua reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 7°C overnight — a 7°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 12°C and 16°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 3°C cooler than April and about 2°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)	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Avg low (°C)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6

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

Rotorua weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 8th-warmest and 7th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	22° / 13°	84	10.2	14.3	6.5
Feb	22° / 13°	81	8.9	13.5	6.6
Mar	20° / 11°	85	9.6	12.3	6.3
Apr	17° / 9°	100	9.5	11	5.5
May	14° / 7°	101	10.3	10	4.1
Jun	12° / 5°	109	10.9	9.4	2.9
Jul	11° / 4°	118	12.3	9.6	2.5
Aug	12° / 5°	113	13.2	10.5	2.8
Sep	14° / 6°	114	13	11.7	3.5
Oct	15° / 7°	103	12.7	13	4.4
Nov	18° / 9°	93	11.4	14.1	5.4
Dec	20° / 11°	113	13	14.6	5.7

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 19% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 54%.

	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 (%)	47	46	45	45	45	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	44	45	45	46	46	47	48	48	49	48	48	48	48	50	50
Cloudier (%)	53	54	55	55	55	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	56	55	55	54	54	53	52	52	51	52	52	52	52	50	50

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	46	54
3	45	55
4	45	55
5	45	55
6	43	57
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	43	57
17	44	56
18	45	55
19	45	55
20	46	54
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	50	50
31	50	50

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Rotorua gets around 101 mm of rain over 10.3 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 33% and peaks near 36% 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 (%)	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	31	32	32	33	34	34	35	35	35	36	35	35	35	35	35	35	34	34	34	34

	Rain chance (%)
1	32
2	32
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	31
10	31
11	31
12	31
13	32
14	32
15	33
16	34
17	34
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	36
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	35
26	35
27	35
28	34
29	34
30	34
31	34

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 92% 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 (%)	88	88	88	89	89	90	90	90	90	91	91	91	91	92	92	92	92	93	93	93	94	94	94	95	95	95	96	96	96	97	97
Comfortable (%)	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	3
Humid (%)	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	88	11	1
2	88	11	1
3	88	11	1
4	89	11	0
5	89	11	0
6	90	10	0
7	90	10	0
8	90	10	0
9	90	10	0
10	91	9	0
11	91	9	0
12	91	9	0
13	91	9	0
14	92	8	0
15	92	8	0
16	92	8	0
17	92	8	0
18	93	7	0
19	93	7	0
20	93	7	0
21	94	6	0
22	94	6	0
23	94	6	0
24	95	5	0
25	95	5	0
26	95	5	0
27	96	4	0
28	96	4	0
29	96	4	0
30	97	3	0
31	97	3	0

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 12 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	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
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	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	11	calm
20	11	calm
21	11	calm
22	11	calm
23	11	calm
24	12	calm
25	12	calm
26	12	calm
27	12	calm
28	12	calm
29	12	calm
30	12	calm
31	12	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 24 min at the start of May to 9 h 36 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 7:59 AM to 8:25 AM, and sunset from 6:25 PM to 6:00 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)	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.0	10.0	10.0	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.6
Sunrise (AM)	7:59	8:00	8:01	8:02	8:03	8:04	8:05	8:06	8:07	8:08	8:08	8:09	8:10	8:11	8:12	8:13	8:14	8:15	8:16	8:17	8:17	8:18	8:19	8:20	8:21	8:21	8:22	8:23	8:24	8:25	8:25
Sunset (PM)	6:25	6:24	6:23	6:22	6:21	6:20	6:18	6:17	6:16	6:15	6:14	6:13	6:12	6:11	6:10	6:10	6:09	6:08	6:07	6:06	6:06	6:05	6:04	6:03	6:03	6:02	6:02	6:01	6:01	6:00	6:00

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.4	7:59	6:25
2	10.4	8:00	6:24
3	10.4	8:01	6:23
4	10.3	8:02	6:22
5	10.3	8:03	6:21
6	10.3	8:04	6:20
7	10.2	8:05	6:18
8	10.2	8:06	6:17
9	10.2	8:07	6:16
10	10.1	8:08	6:15
11	10.1	8:08	6:14
12	10.1	8:09	6:13
13	10.0	8:10	6:12
14	10.0	8:11	6:11
15	10.0	8:12	6:10
16	9.9	8:13	6:10
17	9.9	8:14	6:09
18	9.9	8:15	6:08
19	9.9	8:16	6:07
20	9.8	8:17	6:06
21	9.8	8:17	6:06
22	9.8	8:18	6:05
23	9.8	8:19	6:04
24	9.7	8:20	6:03
25	9.7	8:21	6:03
26	9.7	8:21	6:02
27	9.7	8:22	6:02
28	9.6	8:23	6:01
29	9.6	8:24	6:01
30	9.6	8:25	6:00
31	9.6	8:25	6:00

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 2.22 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.79 kWh/m² to a high of 6.59 kWh/m² in January across the year — May's 2.22 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)	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.9	1.9
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	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.6	Moderate
2	2.6	Moderate
3	2.6	Moderate
4	2.5	Moderate
5	2.5	Moderate
6	2.5	Moderate
7	2.5	Moderate
8	2.4	Moderate
9	2.4	Moderate
10	2.4	Moderate
11	2.3	Moderate
12	2.3	Moderate
13	2.3	Moderate
14	2.3	Moderate
15	2.2	Moderate
16	2.2	Moderate
17	2.2	Moderate
18	2.1	Moderate
19	2.1	Moderate
20	2.1	Moderate
21	2.1	Moderate
22	2.1	Moderate
23	2.0	Moderate
24	2.0	Moderate
25	2.0	Moderate
26	2.0	Moderate
27	2.0	Dim
28	2.0	Dim
29	2.0	Dim
30	1.9	Dim
31	1.9	Dim

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Rotorua?

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

4.1

Sightseeing

8th-best month of the year

0.1

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Rotorua for sightseeing.

What to pack for Rotorua in May

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

In May, Rotorua sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 7°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 10 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

Sea temperature near Rotorua in May

The nearest coast averages about 18°C in May — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 44 km away) is warmest in February at about 21°C and coldest in August near 14°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jan 22 to Mar 25 — about 2.1 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	20	21	20	19	18	16	15	14	14	15	16	18
Comfort	Cool	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	20	Cool
Feb	21	Refreshing
Mar	20	Refreshing
Apr	19	Cool
May	18	Cool
Jun	16	Cool
Jul	15	Bracing
Aug	14	Bracing
Sep	14	Bracing
Oct	15	Cool
Nov	16	Cool
Dec	18	Cool

UV index in Rotorua in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 3. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Rotorua peaks around December 22 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 18 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	12	11	8	5	3	2	2	3	5	7	11	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Very high	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	11	Extreme
Mar	8	Very high
Apr	5	High
May	3	Moderate
Jun	2	Low
Jul	2	Moderate
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	7	Very high
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	12	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Rotorua?

Rotorua sits at 38.1°S, 176.2°E, 287 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Tauranga, 51 km away.

Topography around Rotorua

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Rotorua has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 84 m around an average of 292 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 572 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,180 m.

The land around Rotorua is covered by artificial surfaces (36%), trees (22%) and water (22%) within 3 km, trees (46%) and grassland (37%) within 16 km, and trees (44%) and grassland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km

84 m

artificial surfaces 36%

16 km

572 m

trees 46%

80 km

1,180 m

trees 44%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Tauranga 51 km · Taupo 62 km · Whakatane 68 km · Cambridge 76 km · Hamilton East 92 km · Hamilton 93 km · Pukekohe East 155 km · Napier 161 km

New Zealand travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type I; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 86% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $49,591; 2025
Happiness: 7.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 100%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.5; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 9.6; 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 Rotorua (-38.1387°, 176.2452°, elevation 287 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. 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	16	8
2	16	8
3	15	8
4	15	8
5	15	8
6	15	8
7	15	8
8	15	8
9	15	8
10	15	7
11	15	7
12	15	7
13	14	7
14	14	7
15	14	7
16	14	7
17	14	7
18	14	7
19	14	7
20	14	7
21	14	7
22	14	7
23	13	7
24	13	6
25	13	6
26	13	6
27	13	6
28	13	6
29	13	6
30	13	6
31	13	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	46	54
3	45	55
4	45	55
5	45	55
6	43	57
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	43	57
17	44	56
18	45	55
19	45	55
20	46	54
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	50	50
31	50	50

	Rain chance (%)
1	32
2	32
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	31
10	31
11	31
12	31
13	32
14	32
15	33
16	34
17	34
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	36
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	35
26	35
27	35
28	34
29	34
30	34
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	88	11	1
2	88	11	1
3	88	11	1
4	89	11	0
5	89	11	0
6	90	10	0
7	90	10	0
8	90	10	0
9	90	10	0
10	91	9	0
11	91	9	0
12	91	9	0
13	91	9	0
14	92	8	0
15	92	8	0
16	92	8	0
17	92	8	0
18	93	7	0
19	93	7	0
20	93	7	0
21	94	6	0
22	94	6	0
23	94	6	0
24	95	5	0
25	95	5	0
26	95	5	0
27	96	4	0
28	96	4	0
29	96	4	0
30	97	3	0
31	97	3	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	46	54
3	45	55
4	45	55
5	45	55
6	43	57
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	43	57
17	44	56
18	45	55
19	45	55
20	46	54
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	50	50
31	50	50

	Rain chance (%)
1	32
2	32
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	31
10	31
11	31
12	31
13	32
14	32
15	33
16	34
17	34
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	36
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	35
26	35
27	35
28	34
29	34
30	34
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	88	11	1
2	88	11	1
3	88	11	1
4	89	11	0
5	89	11	0
6	90	10	0
7	90	10	0
8	90	10	0
9	90	10	0
10	91	9	0
11	91	9	0
12	91	9	0
13	91	9	0
14	92	8	0
15	92	8	0
16	92	8	0
17	92	8	0
18	93	7	0
19	93	7	0
20	93	7	0
21	94	6	0
22	94	6	0
23	94	6	0
24	95	5	0
25	95	5	0
26	95	5	0
27	96	4	0
28	96	4	0
29	96	4	0
30	97	3	0
31	97	3	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	47	53
2	46	54
3	45	55
4	45	55
5	45	55
6	43	57
7	43	57
8	43	57
9	43	57
10	43	57
11	43	57
12	43	57
13	43	57
14	43	57
15	43	57
16	43	57
17	44	56
18	45	55
19	45	55
20	46	54
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	50	50
31	50	50

	Rain chance (%)
1	32
2	32
3	32
4	32
5	32
6	32
7	32
8	32
9	31
10	31
11	31
12	31
13	32
14	32
15	33
16	34
17	34
18	35
19	35
20	35
21	36
22	35
23	35
24	35
25	35
26	35
27	35
28	34
29	34
30	34
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	88	11	1
2	88	11	1
3	88	11	1
4	89	11	0
5	89	11	0
6	90	10	0
7	90	10	0
8	90	10	0
9	90	10	0
10	91	9	0
11	91	9	0
12	91	9	0
13	91	9	0
14	92	8	0
15	92	8	0
16	92	8	0
17	92	8	0
18	93	7	0
19	93	7	0
20	93	7	0
21	94	6	0
22	94	6	0
23	94	6	0
24	95	5	0
25	95	5	0
26	95	5	0
27	96	4	0
28	96	4	0
29	96	4	0
30	97	3	0
31	97	3	0