Knysna weather in May

In May, Knysna sees average daytime highs of 19°C and overnight lows near 12°C, with 47 mm of rain across 6.7 wet days and about 10.3 hours of daylight. It is the 7th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 19°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 46% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 42 min at the start of May to 9 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Knysna's 8th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Knysna's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 19°; 7th warmest
Overnight low: 12°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 47 mm; 6.7 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 12 min; 7:17 AM – 5:31 PM
Cloud cover: 45%; 8th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 3.11 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.9; out of 10

Knysna is town in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Density: 631/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1871

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

← April Knysna 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 19°C through the month.

A typical May day in Knysna reaches about 19°C in the afternoon and slips back to 12°C overnight — a 7°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 16°C and 24°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 1°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)	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18
Avg low (°C)	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11

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

Knysna weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 7th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	23° / 17°	49	9.2	14	7.3
Feb	23° / 18°	42	7.9	13.3	7.4
Mar	22° / 17°	52	8.5	12.3	7.3
Apr	21° / 14°	52	7.8	11.2	7.0
May	19° / 12°	47	6.7	10.3	6.9
Jun	18° / 11°	43	7.2	9.8	6.5
Jul	17° / 10°	46	7.6	10	6.2
Aug	17° / 10°	62	8.8	10.7	6.0
Sep	18° / 11°	49	8.5	11.8	6.2
Oct	19° / 13°	62	8.9	12.9	6.4
Nov	20° / 14°	70	9.3	13.8	6.6
Dec	22° / 16°	47	9.3	14.2	7.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 46% 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 34%.

	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 (%)	67	68	68	69	69	69	69	69	69	69	68	68	66	66	65	64	64	63	63	62	62	62	62	63	63	63	65	65	66	67	67
Cloudier (%)	33	32	32	31	31	31	31	31	31	31	32	32	34	34	35	36	36	37	37	38	38	38	38	37	37	37	35	35	34	33	33

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	67	33
2	68	32
3	68	32
4	69	31
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	69	31
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	69	31
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	66	34
14	66	34
15	65	35
16	64	36
17	64	36
18	63	37
19	63	37
20	62	38
21	62	38
22	62	38
23	62	38
24	63	37
25	63	37
26	63	37
27	65	35
28	65	35
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Knysna gets around 47 mm of rain over 6.7 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 25% 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 (%)	24	23	23	22	22	21	21	20	20	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	19	20	20	21	22	22	23	23	24	24	25	25	25	25	25

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

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 84% 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 (%)	68	69	70	70	71	72	73	74	75	77	78	79	80	81	83	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	95	96	97	97	98
Comfortable (%)	31	30	29	29	28	27	26	25	24	22	21	20	19	18	17	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	5	4	3	3	2
Humid (%)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	68	31	1
2	69	30	1
3	70	29	1
4	70	29	1
5	71	28	1
6	72	27	1
7	73	26	1
8	74	25	1
9	75	24	1
10	77	22	1
11	78	21	1
12	79	20	1
13	80	19	1
14	81	18	1
15	83	17	0
16	85	15	0
17	86	14	0
18	87	13	0
19	88	12	0
20	89	11	0
21	90	10	0
22	91	9	0
23	92	8	0
24	93	7	0
25	94	6	0
26	95	5	0
27	95	5	0
28	96	4	0
29	97	3	0
30	97	3	0
31	98	2	0

Wind in May

Winds average 12 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 12 km/h on the calmest days to 13 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)	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 42 min at the start of May to 9 h 54 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 7:05 AM to 7:28 AM, and sunset from 5:45 PM to 5:23 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)	10.7	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.5	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	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	9.9	9.9
Sunrise (AM)	7:05	7:06	7:07	7:08	7:08	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:12	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	7:26	7:26	7:27	7:28
Sunset (PM)	5:45	5:44	5:43	5:42	5:41	5:40	5:39	5:38	5:37	5:36	5:35	5:34	5:33	5:33	5:32	5:31	5:30	5:30	5:29	5:28	5:28	5:27	5:27	5:26	5:25	5:25	5:24	5:24	5:24	5:23	5:23

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.7	7:05	5:45
2	10.6	7:06	5:44
3	10.6	7:07	5:43
4	10.6	7:08	5:42
5	10.5	7:08	5:41
6	10.5	7:09	5:40
7	10.5	7:10	5:39
8	10.5	7:11	5:38
9	10.4	7:12	5:37
10	10.4	7:12	5:36
11	10.4	7:13	5:35
12	10.3	7:14	5:34
13	10.3	7:15	5:33
14	10.3	7:15	5:33
15	10.3	7:16	5:32
16	10.2	7:17	5:31
17	10.2	7:18	5:30
18	10.2	7:19	5:30
19	10.2	7:19	5:29
20	10.1	7:20	5:28
21	10.1	7:21	5:28
22	10.1	7:21	5:27
23	10.1	7:22	5:27
24	10.1	7:23	5:26
25	10.0	7:24	5:25
26	10.0	7:24	5:25
27	10.0	7:25	5:24
28	10.0	7:26	5:24
29	10.0	7:26	5:24
30	9.9	7:27	5:23
31	9.9	7:28	5:23

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 3.11 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.65 kWh/m² to a high of 7.48 kWh/m² in December across the year — May's 3.11 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)	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.2	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	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8
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	3.5	Moderate
2	3.5	Moderate
3	3.5	Moderate
4	3.4	Moderate
5	3.4	Moderate
6	3.4	Moderate
7	3.4	Moderate
8	3.3	Moderate
9	3.3	Moderate
10	3.3	Moderate
11	3.3	Moderate
12	3.2	Moderate
13	3.2	Moderate
14	3.2	Moderate
15	3.2	Moderate
16	3.1	Moderate
17	3.1	Moderate
18	3.1	Moderate
19	3.0	Moderate
20	3.0	Moderate
21	3.0	Moderate
22	3.0	Moderate
23	2.9	Moderate
24	2.9	Moderate
25	2.9	Moderate
26	2.9	Moderate
27	2.8	Moderate
28	2.8	Moderate
29	2.8	Moderate
30	2.8	Moderate
31	2.8	Moderate

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Knysna?

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

6.9

Sightseeing

6th-best month of the year

3.2

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Knysna for sightseeing.

What to pack for Knysna in May

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

In May, Knysna sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 12°C. Little to plan around — just the basics. About 7 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Knysna 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 offshore is warmest in January at about 21°C and coldest in August near 17°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Dec 20 to Mar 14 — about 2.8 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	21	21	20	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	18	20
Comfort	Refreshing	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	21	Refreshing
Feb	21	Refreshing
Mar	20	Refreshing
Apr	18	Cool
May	18	Cool
Jun	17	Cool
Jul	17	Cool
Aug	17	Cool
Sep	17	Cool
Oct	17	Cool
Nov	18	Cool
Dec	20	Cool

UV index in Knysna in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 4 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Knysna peaks around January 15 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 3 (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	11	9	6	4	3	3	4	6	10	11	12
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	13	Extreme
Feb	11	Extreme
Mar	9	Very high
Apr	6	High
May	4	Moderate
Jun	3	Moderate
Jul	3	Moderate
Aug	4	Moderate
Sep	6	High
Oct	10	Extreme
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	12	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Knysna?

Knysna sits at 34.0°S, 23.0°E, 9 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Plettenberg Bay, 30 km away.

Topography around Knysna

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Knysna has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 288 m around an average of 64 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 929 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,052 m.

The land around Knysna is covered by trees (41%) and water (20%) within 3 km, trees (45%) and water (34%) within 16 km, and water (36%) and grassland (31%) within 80 km.

3 km

288 m

trees 41%

16 km

929 m

trees 45%

80 km

2,052 m

water 36%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland

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

May weather nearby: Plettenberg Bay 30 km · George 55 km · Groot-Brakrivier 76 km · Dysselsdorp 76 km · Mossel Bay 85 km · Oudtshoorn 92 km · Kruisfontein 155 km · Humansdorp 159 km

South Africa travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / M / N; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 41% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $6,598; 2025
Happiness: 5.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 68%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 43.7; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 22.2; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Very high; EF EPI 602
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 Knysna (-34.0363°, 23.0471°, elevation 9 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	20	13
2	20	13
3	20	13
4	20	13
5	20	13
6	20	13
7	20	13
8	20	13
9	20	13
10	20	13
11	20	13
12	20	13
13	20	13
14	20	13
15	20	13
16	20	13
17	20	13
18	20	13
19	19	12
20	19	12
21	19	12
22	19	12
23	19	12
24	19	12
25	19	12
26	19	12
27	19	12
28	19	12
29	18	11
30	18	11
31	18	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	67	33
2	68	32
3	68	32
4	69	31
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	69	31
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	69	31
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	66	34
14	66	34
15	65	35
16	64	36
17	64	36
18	63	37
19	63	37
20	62	38
21	62	38
22	62	38
23	62	38
24	63	37
25	63	37
26	63	37
27	65	35
28	65	35
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	68	31	1
2	69	30	1
3	70	29	1
4	70	29	1
5	71	28	1
6	72	27	1
7	73	26	1
8	74	25	1
9	75	24	1
10	77	22	1
11	78	21	1
12	79	20	1
13	80	19	1
14	81	18	1
15	83	17	0
16	85	15	0
17	86	14	0
18	87	13	0
19	88	12	0
20	89	11	0
21	90	10	0
22	91	9	0
23	92	8	0
24	93	7	0
25	94	6	0
26	95	5	0
27	95	5	0
28	96	4	0
29	97	3	0
30	97	3	0
31	98	2	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	67	33
2	68	32
3	68	32
4	69	31
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	69	31
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	69	31
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	66	34
14	66	34
15	65	35
16	64	36
17	64	36
18	63	37
19	63	37
20	62	38
21	62	38
22	62	38
23	62	38
24	63	37
25	63	37
26	63	37
27	65	35
28	65	35
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	68	31	1
2	69	30	1
3	70	29	1
4	70	29	1
5	71	28	1
6	72	27	1
7	73	26	1
8	74	25	1
9	75	24	1
10	77	22	1
11	78	21	1
12	79	20	1
13	80	19	1
14	81	18	1
15	83	17	0
16	85	15	0
17	86	14	0
18	87	13	0
19	88	12	0
20	89	11	0
21	90	10	0
22	91	9	0
23	92	8	0
24	93	7	0
25	94	6	0
26	95	5	0
27	95	5	0
28	96	4	0
29	97	3	0
30	97	3	0
31	98	2	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	67	33
2	68	32
3	68	32
4	69	31
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	69	31
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	69	31
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	66	34
14	66	34
15	65	35
16	64	36
17	64	36
18	63	37
19	63	37
20	62	38
21	62	38
22	62	38
23	62	38
24	63	37
25	63	37
26	63	37
27	65	35
28	65	35
29	66	34
30	67	33
31	67	33

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)
1	68	31	1
2	69	30	1
3	70	29	1
4	70	29	1
5	71	28	1
6	72	27	1
7	73	26	1
8	74	25	1
9	75	24	1
10	77	22	1
11	78	21	1
12	79	20	1
13	80	19	1
14	81	18	1
15	83	17	0
16	85	15	0
17	86	14	0
18	87	13	0
19	88	12	0
20	89	11	0
21	90	10	0
22	91	9	0
23	92	8	0
24	93	7	0
25	94	6	0
26	95	5	0
27	95	5	0
28	96	4	0
29	97	3	0
30	97	3	0
31	98	2	0