Thembisa weather in May

In May, Thembisa sees average daytime highs of 21°C and overnight lows near 8°C, with 14 mm of rain across 2.6 wet days and about 10.7 hours of daylight. It is the 10th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 22°C in the first days to 20°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 75% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 11 hours at the start of May to 10 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Thembisa's 4th-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Thembisa's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 21°; 10th warmest
Overnight low: 8°; 4th coldest
Rainfall: 14 mm; 2.6 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 42 min; 6:41 AM – 5:25 PM
Cloud cover: 23%; 4th clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 10th windiest
Solar energy: 4.33 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.3; out of 10

Thembisa is township in South Africa.

Density: 11,955/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1957

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

← April Thembisa 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 22°C in the first days to 20°C by the end.

A typical May day in Thembisa reaches about 21°C in the afternoon and slips back to 8°C overnight — a 13°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 17°C and 24°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)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
Avg low (°C)	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6

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

Thembisa weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 10th-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	26° / 16°	110	15.3	13.4	5.9
Feb	26° / 16°	97	12.6	12.9	6.2
Mar	25° / 15°	80	10.8	12.2	6.9
Apr	23° / 12°	37	6.4	11.4	7.7
May	21° / 8°	14	2.6	10.7	8.3
Jun	19° / 5°	7	1.2	10.4	8.2
Jul	19° / 5°	3	0.6	10.5	8.3
Aug	21° / 7°	8	1.6	11.1	8.7
Sep	25° / 11°	19	3	11.8	8.6
Oct	26° / 13°	65	9.6	12.6	7.1
Nov	26° / 15°	88	13.3	13.3	6.3
Dec	26° / 16°	116	16.4	13.6	5.8

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 75% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 11% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 13%. 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 (%)	82	82	84	84	85	85	86	87	87	88	88	88	87	87	87	87	87	86	86	86	86	86	87	87	88	88	88	88	88	89	89
Cloudier (%)	18	18	16	16	15	15	14	13	13	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	11	11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	85	15
6	85	15
7	86	14
8	87	13
9	87	13
10	88	12
11	88	12
12	88	12
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	86	14
19	86	14
20	86	14
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	88	12
26	88	12
27	88	12
28	88	12
29	88	12
30	89	11
31	89	11

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Thembisa gets around 14 mm of rain over 2.6 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 8% and peaks near 14% 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 (%)	14	13	12	12	11	11	11	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5

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

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 (%)	99	99	99	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
Comfortable (%)	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 (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

Wind in May

Winds average 10 km/h in May.

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 11 hours at the start of May to 10 h 30 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 30 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 6:33 AM to 6:49 AM, and sunset from 5:35 PM to 5:20 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)	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5
Sunrise (AM)	6:33	6:34	6:34	6:35	6:35	6:36	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:38	6:39	6:39	6:40	6:40	6:41	6:41	6:42	6:42	6:43	6:44	6:44	6:45	6:45	6:46	6:46	6:47	6:47	6:48	6:48	6:49	6:49
Sunset (PM)	5:35	5:35	5:34	5:33	5:32	5:32	5:31	5:30	5:29	5:29	5:28	5:28	5:27	5:26	5:26	5:25	5:25	5:24	5:24	5:23	5:23	5:22	5:22	5:22	5:21	5:21	5:21	5:20	5:20	5:20	5:20

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	11.0	6:33	5:35
2	11.0	6:34	5:35
3	11.0	6:34	5:34
4	11.0	6:35	5:33
5	10.9	6:35	5:32
6	10.9	6:36	5:32
7	10.9	6:36	5:31
8	10.9	6:37	5:30
9	10.9	6:38	5:29
10	10.8	6:38	5:29
11	10.8	6:39	5:28
12	10.8	6:39	5:28
13	10.8	6:40	5:27
14	10.8	6:40	5:26
15	10.7	6:41	5:26
16	10.7	6:41	5:25
17	10.7	6:42	5:25
18	10.7	6:42	5:24
19	10.7	6:43	5:24
20	10.7	6:44	5:23
21	10.6	6:44	5:23
22	10.6	6:45	5:22
23	10.6	6:45	5:22
24	10.6	6:46	5:22
25	10.6	6:46	5:21
26	10.6	6:47	5:21
27	10.6	6:47	5:21
28	10.5	6:48	5:20
29	10.5	6:48	5:20
30	10.5	6:49	5:20
31	10.5	6:49	5:20

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.33 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.92 kWh/m² to a high of 6.73 kWh/m² in December across the year — May's 4.33 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)	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.1
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	4.5	Bright
2	4.5	Bright
3	4.5	Bright
4	4.5	Bright
5	4.5	Bright
6	4.5	Bright
7	4.5	Bright
8	4.5	Bright
9	4.4	Bright
10	4.4	Bright
11	4.4	Bright
12	4.4	Bright
13	4.4	Bright
14	4.4	Bright
15	4.3	Bright
16	4.3	Bright
17	4.3	Bright
18	4.3	Bright
19	4.3	Bright
20	4.3	Bright
21	4.3	Bright
22	4.2	Bright
23	4.2	Bright
24	4.2	Bright
25	4.2	Bright
26	4.2	Bright
27	4.2	Bright
28	4.2	Bright
29	4.1	Bright
30	4.1	Bright
31	4.1	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Thembisa

In seasonPeak

None of Thembisa's seasonal hazards are active in May. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Thembisa's rainy season runs October–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is May a good time to visit Thembisa?

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

8.3

Sightseeing

3rd-best month of the year

5.0

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

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

What to pack for Thembisa in May

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

In May, Thembisa sees daytime highs around 21°C and nights near 8°C. Worth packing: a warm layer.

a warm layer

UV index in Thembisa in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 6 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Thembisa peaks around December 23 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 5 (high).

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)	14	13	12	9	6	5	6	7	9	11	12	14
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	High	High	Very high	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	14	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	12	Extreme
Apr	9	Very high
May	6	High
Jun	5	High
Jul	6	High
Aug	7	Very high
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	11	Extreme
Nov	12	Extreme
Dec	14	Extreme

Air quality in Thembisa 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 Thembisa is worst in June — around 259 µg/m³ PM2.5 (very unhealthy), about 6.0× the cleanest month (January, 43 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	43	63	101	158	232	259	259	200	144	91	65	50
Level	Poor	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	43	Poor
Feb	63	Unhealthy
Mar	101	Unhealthy
Apr	158	Very unhealthy
May	232	Very unhealthy
Jun	259	Very unhealthy
Jul	259	Very unhealthy
Aug	200	Very unhealthy
Sep	144	Unhealthy
Oct	91	Unhealthy
Nov	65	Unhealthy
Dec	50	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Thembisa?

Thembisa sits at 26.0°S, 28.2°E, 1,577 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Ivory Park, 3.0 km away.

Topography around Thembisa

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Thembisa has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 136 m around an average of 1,568 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 324 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 891 m.

The land around Thembisa is covered by artificial surfaces (74%) within 3 km, grassland (41%) and artificial surfaces (31%) within 16 km, and grassland (53%) and cropland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km

136 m

artificial surfaces 74%

16 km

324 m

grassland 41%

80 km

891 m

grassland 53%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Ivory Park 3.0 km · Midstream 9.0 km · Midrand 11 km · Centurion 16 km · Alexandra 18 km · Edenvale 18 km · Diepsloot 23 km · Benoni 23 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 Thembisa (-25.9964°, 28.2268°, elevation 1,577 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	22	10
2	22	10
3	22	10
4	22	10
5	22	9
6	22	9
7	22	9
8	22	9
9	22	9
10	22	9
11	22	9
12	21	8
13	21	8
14	21	8
15	21	8
16	21	8
17	21	8
18	21	8
19	21	8
20	21	7
21	21	7
22	21	7
23	21	7
24	20	7
25	20	7
26	20	7
27	20	7
28	20	6
29	20	6
30	20	6
31	20	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	85	15
6	85	15
7	86	14
8	87	13
9	87	13
10	88	12
11	88	12
12	88	12
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	86	14
19	86	14
20	86	14
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	88	12
26	88	12
27	88	12
28	88	12
29	88	12
30	89	11
31	89	11

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	85	15
6	85	15
7	86	14
8	87	13
9	87	13
10	88	12
11	88	12
12	88	12
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	86	14
19	86	14
20	86	14
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	88	12
26	88	12
27	88	12
28	88	12
29	88	12
30	89	11
31	89	11

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	82	18
2	82	18
3	84	16
4	84	16
5	85	15
6	85	15
7	86	14
8	87	13
9	87	13
10	88	12
11	88	12
12	88	12
13	87	13
14	87	13
15	87	13
16	87	13
17	87	13
18	86	14
19	86	14
20	86	14
21	86	14
22	86	14
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	88	12
26	88	12
27	88	12
28	88	12
29	88	12
30	89	11
31	89	11

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	99	1
2	99	1
3	99	1
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	100	0
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	100	0
28	100	0
29	100	0
30	100	0
31	100	0