Musanze weather in May

In May, Musanze sees average daytime highs of 21°C and overnight lows near 14°C, with 118 mm of rain across 18.8 wet days and about 11.9 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 8th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 21°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 5% of the time in May, and the air most often feels comfortable.

Daylight stretches from about 11 h 54 min at the start of May to 11 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Musanze's 5th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Musanze's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 21°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 14°; 12th coldest
Rainfall: 118 mm; 18.8 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 54 min; 6:00 AM – 5:56 PM
Cloud cover: 76%; 5th clearest
Wind: 6 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 4.75 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.0; out of 10

Musanze is city.

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

← April Musanze 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

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 21°C through the month.

A typical May day in Musanze reaches about 21°C in the afternoon and slips back to 14°C overnight — a 7°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 19°C and 22°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs on par with April and on par with 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)	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21
Avg low (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13

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

Musanze weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 11th-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	22° / 13°	186	20.5	12.1	4.8
Feb	22° / 13°	166	17.6	12	5.0
Mar	22° / 14°	234	24.9	12	4.2
Apr	21° / 14°	200	26.2	12	3.8
May	21° / 14°	118	18.8	11.9	5.0
Jun	21° / 13°	39	6.9	11.9	6.7
Jul	22° / 13°	19	3.7	11.9	7.3
Aug	22° / 13°	67	10.3	12	6.4
Sep	22° / 13°	114	15.8	12	5.5
Oct	21° / 13°	201	23	12	4.4
Nov	21° / 13°	222	25.3	12.1	3.9
Dec	21° / 13°	207	23.3	12.1	4.4

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 5% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 17% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 78%. 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 (%)	11	12	12	12	13	13	13	14	14	16	16	17	17	19	20	20	22	23	25	25	27	27	29	31	32	34	34	36	37	37	38
Cloudier (%)	89	88	88	88	87	87	87	86	86	84	84	83	83	81	80	80	78	77	75	75	73	73	71	69	68	66	66	64	63	63	62

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	11	89
2	12	88
3	12	88
4	12	88
5	13	87
6	13	87
7	13	87
8	14	86
9	14	86
10	16	84
11	16	84
12	17	83
13	17	83
14	19	81
15	20	80
16	20	80
17	22	78
18	23	77
19	25	75
20	25	75
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	29	71
24	31	69
25	32	68
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	37	63
31	38	62

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Musanze gets around 118 mm of rain over 18.8 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 60% and peaks near 86% 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 (%)	86	85	84	83	82	81	79	78	76	74	72	69	67	64	62	60	57	55	53	51	48	46	44	43	41	40	38	37	36	35	34

	Rain chance (%)
1	86
2	85
3	84
4	83
5	82
6	81
7	79
8	78
9	76
10	74
11	72
12	69
13	67
14	64
15	62
16	60
17	57
18	55
19	53
20	51
21	48
22	46
23	44
24	43
25	41
26	40
27	38
28	37
29	36
30	35
31	34

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, May lands in the comfortable band about 75% 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 (%)	5	5	6	7	7	8	8	9	10	11	12	14	15	17	18	20	22	23	25	27	29	32	34	36	39	41	43	45	48	50	52
Comfortable (%)	92	92	91	90	90	89	89	88	87	86	86	84	83	81	80	79	77	76	74	72	71	68	66	64	61	59	57	55	52	50	48
Humid (%)	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	92	3
2	5	92	3
3	6	91	3
4	7	90	3
5	7	90	3
6	8	89	3
7	8	89	3
8	9	88	3
9	10	87	3
10	11	86	3
11	12	86	2
12	14	84	2
13	15	83	2
14	17	81	2
15	18	80	2
16	20	79	1
17	22	77	1
18	23	76	1
19	25	74	1
20	27	72	1
21	29	71	0
22	32	68	0
23	34	66	0
24	36	64	0
25	39	61	0
26	41	59	0
27	43	57	0
28	45	55	0
29	48	52	0
30	50	50	0
31	52	48	0

Wind in May

Winds average 6 km/h in May.

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 h 54 min at the start of May to 11 h 54 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 0 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 6:00 AM to 6:01 AM, and sunset from 5:57 PM to 5:56 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)	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9	11.9
Sunrise (AM)	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:00	6:01	6:01	6:01	6:01	6:01	6:01
Sunset (PM)	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:57	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:56

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.9	6:00	5:57
2	11.9	6:00	5:57
3	11.9	6:00	5:57
4	11.9	6:00	5:57
5	11.9	6:00	5:56
6	11.9	6:00	5:56
7	11.9	6:00	5:56
8	11.9	6:00	5:56
9	11.9	6:00	5:56
10	11.9	6:00	5:56
11	11.9	6:00	5:56
12	11.9	6:00	5:56
13	11.9	6:00	5:56
14	11.9	6:00	5:56
15	11.9	6:00	5:56
16	11.9	6:00	5:56
17	11.9	6:00	5:56
18	11.9	6:00	5:56
19	11.9	6:00	5:56
20	11.9	6:00	5:56
21	11.9	6:00	5:56
22	11.9	6:00	5:56
23	11.9	6:00	5:56
24	11.9	6:00	5:56
25	11.9	6:00	5:56
26	11.9	6:01	5:56
27	11.9	6:01	5:56
28	11.9	6:01	5:56
29	11.9	6:01	5:56
30	11.9	6:01	5:56
31	11.9	6:01	5:56

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.75 kWh/m² — the year's lowest.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.75 kWh/m² to a high of 5.43 kWh/m² in February across the year — May's 4.75 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)	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	4.6	Bright
2	4.6	Bright
3	4.6	Bright
4	4.6	Bright
5	4.6	Bright
6	4.6	Bright
7	4.7	Bright
8	4.7	Bright
9	4.7	Bright
10	4.7	Bright
11	4.7	Bright
12	4.7	Bright
13	4.7	Bright
14	4.7	Bright
15	4.7	Bright
16	4.8	Bright
17	4.8	Bright
18	4.8	Bright
19	4.8	Bright
20	4.8	Bright
21	4.8	Bright
22	4.8	Bright
23	4.8	Bright
24	4.9	Bright
25	4.9	Bright
26	4.9	Bright
27	4.9	Bright
28	4.9	Bright
29	4.9	Bright
30	4.9	Bright
31	4.9	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Musanze?

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

5.0

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

3.1

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Musanze for sightseeing.

What to pack for Musanze in May

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

In May, Musanze sees daytime highs around 21°C and nights near 14°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 19 days see rain.

rain gearsun protection

UV index in Musanze in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 13 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Musanze peaks around March 17 at about 16 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 11 (extreme).

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)	12	16	17	16	13	11	11	11	14	14	13	11
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	12	Extreme
Feb	16	Extreme
Mar	17	Extreme
Apr	16	Extreme
May	13	Extreme
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	11	Extreme
Sep	14	Extreme
Oct	14	Extreme
Nov	13	Extreme
Dec	11	Extreme

Air quality in Musanze 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 Musanze is worst in January — around 99 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), 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)	99	98	88	82	80	95	91	87	83	81	86	93
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	99	Unhealthy
Feb	98	Unhealthy
Mar	88	Unhealthy
Apr	82	Unhealthy
May	80	Unhealthy
Jun	95	Unhealthy
Jul	91	Unhealthy
Aug	87	Unhealthy
Sep	83	Unhealthy
Oct	81	Unhealthy
Nov	86	Unhealthy
Dec	93	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Musanze?

Musanze sits at 1.5°S, 29.6°E, 1,849 m above sea level, in Rwanda. The nearest listed city is Mukingo, 10 km away.

Topography around Musanze

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Musanze has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 304 m around an average of 1,850 m above sea level; within 16 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,644 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,540 m.

The land around Musanze is covered by artificial surfaces (34%), trees (31%) and cropland (27%) within 3 km, trees (50%) and cropland (32%) within 16 km, and trees (36%), grassland (24%) and cropland (23%) within 80 km.

3 km

304 m

artificial surfaces 34%

16 km

2,644 m

trees 50%

80 km

3,540 m

trees 36%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

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

May weather nearby: Mukingo 10 km · Busogo 12 km · Mukamira 20 km · Kora 24 km · Kisoro 24 km · Ngororero 40 km · Rutshuru 41 km · Rubanda 42 km

Rwanda travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 3; Reconsider Travel
Power plugs: Type C / E / G; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 27% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $1,124; 2025
Happiness: 3.3 / 10; World Happiness, 2021
Homicide rate: 3.6; per 100k, 2020
Road deaths: 29.4; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Low; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 417
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 Musanze (-1.4998°, 29.635°, elevation 1,849 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	21	14
2	21	14
3	21	14
4	21	14
5	21	14
6	21	14
7	21	14
8	21	14
9	21	14
10	21	14
11	21	14
12	21	14
13	21	14
14	21	14
15	21	14
16	21	14
17	21	14
18	21	14
19	21	14
20	21	14
21	21	14
22	21	14
23	21	14
24	21	14
25	21	14
26	21	14
27	21	14
28	21	14
29	21	14
30	21	13
31	21	13

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	11	89
2	12	88
3	12	88
4	12	88
5	13	87
6	13	87
7	13	87
8	14	86
9	14	86
10	16	84
11	16	84
12	17	83
13	17	83
14	19	81
15	20	80
16	20	80
17	22	78
18	23	77
19	25	75
20	25	75
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	29	71
24	31	69
25	32	68
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	37	63
31	38	62

	Rain chance (%)
1	86
2	85
3	84
4	83
5	82
6	81
7	79
8	78
9	76
10	74
11	72
12	69
13	67
14	64
15	62
16	60
17	57
18	55
19	53
20	51
21	48
22	46
23	44
24	43
25	41
26	40
27	38
28	37
29	36
30	35
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	92	3
2	5	92	3
3	6	91	3
4	7	90	3
5	7	90	3
6	8	89	3
7	8	89	3
8	9	88	3
9	10	87	3
10	11	86	3
11	12	86	2
12	14	84	2
13	15	83	2
14	17	81	2
15	18	80	2
16	20	79	1
17	22	77	1
18	23	76	1
19	25	74	1
20	27	72	1
21	29	71	0
22	32	68	0
23	34	66	0
24	36	64	0
25	39	61	0
26	41	59	0
27	43	57	0
28	45	55	0
29	48	52	0
30	50	50	0
31	52	48	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	11	89
2	12	88
3	12	88
4	12	88
5	13	87
6	13	87
7	13	87
8	14	86
9	14	86
10	16	84
11	16	84
12	17	83
13	17	83
14	19	81
15	20	80
16	20	80
17	22	78
18	23	77
19	25	75
20	25	75
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	29	71
24	31	69
25	32	68
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	37	63
31	38	62

	Rain chance (%)
1	86
2	85
3	84
4	83
5	82
6	81
7	79
8	78
9	76
10	74
11	72
12	69
13	67
14	64
15	62
16	60
17	57
18	55
19	53
20	51
21	48
22	46
23	44
24	43
25	41
26	40
27	38
28	37
29	36
30	35
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	92	3
2	5	92	3
3	6	91	3
4	7	90	3
5	7	90	3
6	8	89	3
7	8	89	3
8	9	88	3
9	10	87	3
10	11	86	3
11	12	86	2
12	14	84	2
13	15	83	2
14	17	81	2
15	18	80	2
16	20	79	1
17	22	77	1
18	23	76	1
19	25	74	1
20	27	72	1
21	29	71	0
22	32	68	0
23	34	66	0
24	36	64	0
25	39	61	0
26	41	59	0
27	43	57	0
28	45	55	0
29	48	52	0
30	50	50	0
31	52	48	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	11	89
2	12	88
3	12	88
4	12	88
5	13	87
6	13	87
7	13	87
8	14	86
9	14	86
10	16	84
11	16	84
12	17	83
13	17	83
14	19	81
15	20	80
16	20	80
17	22	78
18	23	77
19	25	75
20	25	75
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	29	71
24	31	69
25	32	68
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	37	63
31	38	62

	Rain chance (%)
1	86
2	85
3	84
4	83
5	82
6	81
7	79
8	78
9	76
10	74
11	72
12	69
13	67
14	64
15	62
16	60
17	57
18	55
19	53
20	51
21	48
22	46
23	44
24	43
25	41
26	40
27	38
28	37
29	36
30	35
31	34

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	5	92	3
2	5	92	3
3	6	91	3
4	7	90	3
5	7	90	3
6	8	89	3
7	8	89	3
8	9	88	3
9	10	87	3
10	11	86	3
11	12	86	2
12	14	84	2
13	15	83	2
14	17	81	2
15	18	80	2
16	20	79	1
17	22	77	1
18	23	76	1
19	25	74	1
20	27	72	1
21	29	71	0
22	32	68	0
23	34	66	0
24	36	64	0
25	39	61	0
26	41	59	0
27	43	57	0
28	45	55	0
29	48	52	0
30	50	50	0
31	52	48	0