Whanganui weather in May

In May, Whanganui sees average daytime highs of 15°C and overnight lows near 11°C, with 97 mm of rain across 12.4 wet days and about 9.8 hours of daylight. It is the 7th-warmest and 8th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 16°C in the first days to 14°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 32% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 18 min at the start of May to 9 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Whanganui's 5th-clearest and 6th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Whanganui's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 15°; 7th warmest
Overnight low: 11°; 6th coldest
Rainfall: 97 mm; 12.4 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 48 min; 8:22 AM – 6:10 PM
Cloud cover: 56%; 5th clearest
Wind: 22 km/h; 6th windiest
Solar energy: 2.14 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.3; out of 10

Whanganui is city in New Zealand's North Island.

Density: 20,736/km²; people per km²

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

← April Whanganui 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 16°C in the first days to 14°C by the end.

A typical May day in Whanganui reaches about 15°C in the afternoon and slips back to 11°C overnight — a 3°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 13°C and 17°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 2°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	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Avg low (°C)	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10

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

Whanganui weather by month

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

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	19° / 15°	71	9.3	14.5	6.3
Feb	20° / 16°	66	8.1	13.6	6.5
Mar	18° / 15°	68	9.6	12.3	6.2
Apr	17° / 13°	98	11	11	5.2
May	15° / 11°	97	12.4	9.8	4.3
Jun	13° / 10°	109	14.1	9.2	3.2
Jul	12° / 9°	105	14.3	9.5	2.9
Aug	12° / 9°	102	14.7	10.4	3.0
Sep	13° / 10°	97	13.6	11.7	3.4
Oct	14° / 11°	107	14.2	13.1	3.8
Nov	16° / 12°	89	12.2	14.2	4.6
Dec	17° / 14°	100	12.7	14.8	5.4

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 32% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 21% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 47%.

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

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

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Whanganui gets around 97 mm of rain over 12.4 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 40% and peaks near 45% on the wettest days. The odds climb 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 (%)	36	36	36	37	37	37	37	37	38	38	38	38	39	39	40	40	41	41	42	42	43	43	43	43	43	44	44	44	44	45	45

	Rain chance (%)
1	36
2	36
3	36
4	37
5	37
6	37
7	37
8	37
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	38
13	39
14	39
15	40
16	40
17	41
18	41
19	42
20	42
21	43
22	43
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	45
31	45

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 90% 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 (%)	81	82	82	83	83	84	84	85	86	87	87	88	89	90	90	91	92	92	93	93	93	94	94	95	95	95	96	96	96	96	96
Comfortable (%)	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	14	13	13	12	11	10	10	9	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	81	19
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	85	15
9	86	14
10	87	13
11	87	13
12	88	12
13	89	11
14	90	10
15	90	10
16	91	9
17	92	8
18	92	8
19	93	7
20	93	7
21	93	7
22	94	6
23	94	6
24	95	5
25	95	5
26	95	5
27	96	4
28	96	4
29	96	4
30	96	4
31	96	4

Wind in May

Winds average 22 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 20 km/h on the calmest days to 23 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)	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23
Feels	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 18 min at the start of May to 9 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 54 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 8:07 AM to 8:35 AM, and sunset from 6:27 PM to 5:59 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)	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.2	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.0	10.0	10.0	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.4	9.4	9.4
Sunrise (AM)	8:07	8:08	8:09	8:10	8:11	8:12	8:13	8:14	8:15	8:16	8:17	8:18	8:19	8:20	8:21	8:22	8:23	8:24	8:25	8:26	8:27	8:28	8:28	8:29	8:30	8:31	8:32	8:33	8:33	8:34	8:35
Sunset (PM)	6:27	6:26	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	6:09	6:08	6:07	6:07	6:06	6:05	6:04	6:04	6:03	6:02	6:02	6:01	6:00	6:00	5:59

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.3	8:07	6:27
2	10.3	8:08	6:26
3	10.3	8:09	6:24
4	10.2	8:10	6:23
5	10.2	8:11	6:22
6	10.1	8:12	6:21
7	10.1	8:13	6:20
8	10.1	8:14	6:18
9	10.0	8:15	6:17
10	10.0	8:16	6:16
11	10.0	8:17	6:15
12	9.9	8:18	6:14
13	9.9	8:19	6:13
14	9.9	8:20	6:12
15	9.8	8:21	6:11
16	9.8	8:22	6:10
17	9.8	8:23	6:09
18	9.7	8:24	6:08
19	9.7	8:25	6:07
20	9.7	8:26	6:07
21	9.7	8:27	6:06
22	9.6	8:28	6:05
23	9.6	8:28	6:04
24	9.6	8:29	6:04
25	9.5	8:30	6:03
26	9.5	8:31	6:02
27	9.5	8:32	6:02
28	9.5	8:33	6:01
29	9.4	8:33	6:00
30	9.4	8:34	6:00
31	9.4	8:35	5:59

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 2.14 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.64 kWh/m² to a high of 7 kWh/m² in January across the year — May's 2.14 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	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8
Level	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	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.6	Moderate
2	2.5	Moderate
3	2.5	Moderate
4	2.5	Moderate
5	2.4	Moderate
6	2.4	Moderate
7	2.4	Moderate
8	2.3	Moderate
9	2.3	Moderate
10	2.3	Moderate
11	2.3	Moderate
12	2.2	Moderate
13	2.2	Moderate
14	2.2	Moderate
15	2.2	Moderate
16	2.1	Moderate
17	2.1	Moderate
18	2.1	Moderate
19	2.1	Moderate
20	2.0	Moderate
21	2.0	Moderate
22	2.0	Moderate
23	2.0	Dim
24	1.9	Dim
25	1.9	Dim
26	1.9	Dim
27	1.9	Dim
28	1.9	Dim
29	1.9	Dim
30	1.8	Dim
31	1.8	Dim

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Whanganui?

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

4.3

Sightseeing

7th-best month of the year

0.1

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Whanganui for sightseeing.

What to pack for Whanganui in May

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

In May, Whanganui sees daytime highs around 15°C and nights near 11°C. Worth packing: a warm layer, rain gear and a windbreaker. About 12 days see rain.

a warm layerrain geara windbreaker

Sea temperature near Whanganui in May

The nearest coast averages about 16°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 16 km away) is warmest in February at about 19°C and coldest in August near 13°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	18	19	18	17	16	14	13	13	13	14	15	16
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	18	Cool
Feb	19	Cool
Mar	18	Cool
Apr	17	Cool
May	16	Cool
Jun	14	Bracing
Jul	13	Bracing
Aug	13	Bracing
Sep	13	Bracing
Oct	14	Bracing
Nov	15	Bracing
Dec	16	Cool

UV index in Whanganui in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 2. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Whanganui peaks around January 12 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 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	7	5	2	2	2	3	4	7	10	11
Level	Extreme	Extreme	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	11	Extreme
Mar	7	High
Apr	5	Moderate
May	2	Moderate
Jun	2	Low
Jul	2	Moderate
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	7	High
Nov	10	Very high
Dec	11	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Whanganui?

Whanganui sits at 39.9°S, 175.1°E, 18 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Palmerston North, 67 km away.

Topography around Whanganui

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Whanganui has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 103 m around an average of 28 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 300 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,746 m.

The land around Whanganui is covered by grassland (39%), artificial surfaces (28%) and trees (25%) within 3 km, grassland (42%), water (32%) and trees (22%) within 16 km, and grassland (44%), trees (29%) and water (25%) within 80 km.

3 km

103 m

grassland 39%

16 km

300 m

grassland 42%

80 km

1,746 m

grassland 44%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

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

May weather nearby: Palmerston North 67 km · Levin 80 km · Paraparaumu 109 km · Masterton 125 km · New Plymouth 127 km · Upper Hutt 134 km · Porirua 135 km · Lower Hutt 143 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 Whanganui (-39.9333°, 175.05°, elevation 18 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	12
2	16	12
3	16	12
4	16	12
5	16	12
6	16	12
7	16	12
8	15	12
9	15	12
10	15	12
11	15	12
12	15	12
13	15	12
14	15	12
15	15	12
16	15	11
17	15	11
18	15	11
19	15	11
20	15	11
21	14	11
22	14	11
23	14	11
24	14	11
25	14	11
26	14	11
27	14	11
28	14	11
29	14	11
30	14	10
31	14	10

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	36
2	36
3	36
4	37
5	37
6	37
7	37
8	37
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	38
13	39
14	39
15	40
16	40
17	41
18	41
19	42
20	42
21	43
22	43
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	45
31	45

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	81	19
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	85	15
9	86	14
10	87	13
11	87	13
12	88	12
13	89	11
14	90	10
15	90	10
16	91	9
17	92	8
18	92	8
19	93	7
20	93	7
21	93	7
22	94	6
23	94	6
24	95	5
25	95	5
26	95	5
27	96	4
28	96	4
29	96	4
30	96	4
31	96	4

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	36
2	36
3	36
4	37
5	37
6	37
7	37
8	37
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	38
13	39
14	39
15	40
16	40
17	41
18	41
19	42
20	42
21	43
22	43
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	45
31	45

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	81	19
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	85	15
9	86	14
10	87	13
11	87	13
12	88	12
13	89	11
14	90	10
15	90	10
16	91	9
17	92	8
18	92	8
19	93	7
20	93	7
21	93	7
22	94	6
23	94	6
24	95	5
25	95	5
26	95	5
27	96	4
28	96	4
29	96	4
30	96	4
31	96	4

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

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

	Rain chance (%)
1	36
2	36
3	36
4	37
5	37
6	37
7	37
8	37
9	38
10	38
11	38
12	38
13	39
14	39
15	40
16	40
17	41
18	41
19	42
20	42
21	43
22	43
23	43
24	43
25	43
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	44
30	45
31	45

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	81	19
2	82	18
3	82	18
4	83	17
5	83	17
6	84	16
7	84	16
8	85	15
9	86	14
10	87	13
11	87	13
12	88	12
13	89	11
14	90	10
15	90	10
16	91	9
17	92	8
18	92	8
19	93	7
20	93	7
21	93	7
22	94	6
23	94	6
24	95	5
25	95	5
26	95	5
27	96	4
28	96	4
29	96	4
30	96	4
31	96	4