Upington weather in May

In May, Upington sees average daytime highs of 24°C and overnight lows near 10°C, with 12 mm of rain across 1.8 wet days and about 10.6 hours of daylight. It is the 9th-warmest and 8th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 26°C in the first days to 22°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 78% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 54 min at the start of May to 10 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Upington's 4th-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Upington's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 24°; 9th warmest
Overnight low: 10°; 4th coldest
Rainfall: 12 mm; 1.8 wet days
Daylight: 10 h 36 min; 7:14 AM – 5:49 PM
Cloud cover: 21%; 4th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 4.2 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.9; out of 10

Upington is town in South Africa.

Density: 123/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1873

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

← April Upington 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 26°C in the first days to 22°C by the end.

A typical May day in Upington reaches about 24°C in the afternoon and slips back to 10°C overnight — a 15°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 18°C and 29°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 4°C cooler than April and about 4°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)	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	24	24	24	24	24	24	23	23	23	23	23	22	22	22	22
Avg low (°C)	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	7	7

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

How May really feels in Upington

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

May sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Upington weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 9th-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	35° / 22°	35	5.4	13.6	2.9
Feb	35° / 22°	31	6.4	13	3.2
Mar	33° / 20°	36	5.5	12.2	4.5
Apr	28° / 15°	25	3.6	11.3	7.4
May	24° / 10°	12	1.8	10.6	8.9
Jun	21° / 6°	5	0.8	10.2	8.6
Jul	21° / 5°	4	0.9	10.4	8.7
Aug	23° / 7°	3	0.6	11	9.2
Sep	27° / 11°	5	0.9	11.8	8.6
Oct	30° / 15°	14	2.3	12.7	6.4
Nov	32° / 18°	13	2.4	13.4	4.9
Dec	35° / 20°	27	3.9	13.8	3.4

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 78% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 10% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 12%.

	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 (%)	90	90	90	90	90	90	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	89	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	88	88	88
Cloudier (%)	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	90	10
2	90	10
3	90	10
4	90	10
5	90	10
6	90	10
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	87	13
22	87	13
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	87	13
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	87	13
29	88	12
30	88	12
31	88	12

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Upington gets around 12 mm of rain over 1.8 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 6% and peaks near 8% 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 (%)	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3

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

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 99% 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 (%)	95	95	96	96	96	97	97	98	98	98	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Comfortable (%)	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	97	3
7	97	3
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
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 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	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Feels	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	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	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	12	light breeze
2	12	light breeze
3	12	light breeze
4	12	light breeze
5	12	light breeze
6	12	light breeze
7	12	light breeze
8	12	light breeze
9	12	light breeze
10	12	light breeze
11	12	light breeze
12	12	light breeze
13	12	light breeze
14	12	light breeze
15	12	light breeze
16	12	light breeze
17	12	light breeze
18	12	light breeze
19	13	light breeze
20	13	light breeze
21	13	light breeze
22	13	light breeze
23	13	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 54 min at the start of May to 10 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 36 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 7:04 AM to 7:22 AM, and sunset from 6:00 PM to 5:43 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)	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.9	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.6	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.3
Sunrise (AM)	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:06	7:07	7:07	7:08	7:09	7:09	7:10	7:10	7:11	7:12	7:12	7:13	7:14	7:14	7:15	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:17	7:18	7:18	7:19	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:21	7:22	7:22
Sunset (PM)	6:00	5:59	5:58	5:57	5:57	5:56	5:55	5:54	5:54	5:53	5:52	5:51	5:51	5:50	5:49	5:49	5:48	5:48	5:47	5:47	5:46	5:46	5:45	5:45	5:44	5:44	5:44	5:43	5:43	5:43	5:43

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.9	7:04	6:00
2	10.9	7:05	5:59
3	10.9	7:06	5:58
4	10.9	7:06	5:57
5	10.8	7:07	5:57
6	10.8	7:07	5:56
7	10.8	7:08	5:55
8	10.8	7:09	5:54
9	10.7	7:09	5:54
10	10.7	7:10	5:53
11	10.7	7:10	5:52
12	10.7	7:11	5:51
13	10.7	7:12	5:51
14	10.6	7:12	5:50
15	10.6	7:13	5:49
16	10.6	7:14	5:49
17	10.6	7:14	5:48
18	10.6	7:15	5:48
19	10.5	7:15	5:47
20	10.5	7:16	5:47
21	10.5	7:17	5:46
22	10.5	7:17	5:46
23	10.5	7:18	5:45
24	10.4	7:18	5:45
25	10.4	7:19	5:44
26	10.4	7:19	5:44
27	10.4	7:20	5:44
28	10.4	7:21	5:43
29	10.4	7:21	5:43
30	10.4	7:22	5:43
31	10.3	7:22	5:43

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.2 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.65 kWh/m² to a high of 8.6 kWh/m² in December across the year — May's 4.2 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)	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.8
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	4.7	Bright
2	4.6	Bright
3	4.6	Bright
4	4.6	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	4.3	Bright
12	4.3	Bright
13	4.3	Bright
14	4.3	Bright
15	4.2	Bright
16	4.2	Bright
17	4.2	Bright
18	4.1	Bright
19	4.1	Bright
20	4.1	Bright
21	4.0	Bright
22	4.0	Bright
23	4.0	Bright
24	4.0	Moderate
25	4.0	Moderate
26	3.9	Moderate
27	3.9	Moderate
28	3.9	Moderate
29	3.9	Moderate
30	3.9	Moderate
31	3.8	Moderate

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Upington?

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

8.9

Sightseeing

2nd-best month of the year

7.5

Beach & pool

6th-best month of the year

May is one of the better times to visit Upington for general sightseeing. The water and warmth also suit a beach or pool day.

What to pack for Upington in May

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

In May, Upington sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 10°C. Worth packing: light clothes.

light clothes

UV index in Upington 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 Upington peaks around January 15 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 4 (moderate).

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)	15	13	11	8	6	4	5	6	9	11	13	14
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	15	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	11	Extreme
Apr	8	Very high
May	6	High
Jun	4	Moderate
Jul	5	Moderate
Aug	6	High
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	11	Extreme
Nov	13	Extreme
Dec	14	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Upington?

Upington sits at 28.4°S, 21.3°E, 808 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Postmasburg, 177 km away.

Topography around Upington

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Upington has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 60 m around an average of 804 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 232 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 584 m.

The land around Upington is covered by artificial surfaces (27%), shrubs (26%) and grassland (20%) within 3 km, grassland (53%) and shrubs (29%) within 16 km, and grassland (49%) and shrubs (38%) within 80 km.

3 km

60 m

artificial surfaces 27%

16 km

232 m

grassland 53%

80 km

584 m

grassland 49%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Postmasburg 177 km · Tsabong 292 km · Kimberley 344 km · Pampierstad 345 km · Warrenton 354 km · De Aar 362 km · Keetmanshoop 372 km · Vryburg 380 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 Upington (-28.4478°, 21.2561°, elevation 808 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. 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	26	12
2	26	12
3	26	12
4	26	12
5	26	11
6	26	11
7	26	11
8	26	11
9	26	11
10	25	11
11	25	11
12	25	11
13	25	10
14	25	10
15	25	10
16	25	10
17	24	10
18	24	10
19	24	10
20	24	9
21	24	9
22	24	9
23	23	9
24	23	9
25	23	8
26	23	8
27	23	8
28	22	8
29	22	8
30	22	7
31	22	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	90	10
2	90	10
3	90	10
4	90	10
5	90	10
6	90	10
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	87	13
22	87	13
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	87	13
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	87	13
29	88	12
30	88	12
31	88	12

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	97	3
7	97	3
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
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	26	12
2	26	12
3	26	12
4	26	12
5	26	11
6	26	11
7	26	11
8	26	11
9	26	11
10	25	11
11	25	11
12	25	11
13	25	10
14	25	10
15	25	10
16	25	10
17	24	10
18	24	10
19	24	10
20	24	9
21	24	9
22	24	9
23	23	9
24	23	9
25	23	8
26	23	8
27	23	8
28	22	8
29	22	8
30	22	7
31	22	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	90	10
2	90	10
3	90	10
4	90	10
5	90	10
6	90	10
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	87	13
22	87	13
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	87	13
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	87	13
29	88	12
30	88	12
31	88	12

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	97	3
7	97	3
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
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	26	12
2	26	12
3	26	12
4	26	12
5	26	11
6	26	11
7	26	11
8	26	11
9	26	11
10	25	11
11	25	11
12	25	11
13	25	10
14	25	10
15	25	10
16	25	10
17	24	10
18	24	10
19	24	10
20	24	9
21	24	9
22	24	9
23	23	9
24	23	9
25	23	8
26	23	8
27	23	8
28	22	8
29	22	8
30	22	7
31	22	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	90	10
2	90	10
3	90	10
4	90	10
5	90	10
6	90	10
7	89	11
8	89	11
9	89	11
10	89	11
11	89	11
12	89	11
13	89	11
14	89	11
15	89	11
16	89	11
17	87	13
18	87	13
19	87	13
20	87	13
21	87	13
22	87	13
23	87	13
24	87	13
25	87	13
26	87	13
27	87	13
28	87	13
29	88	12
30	88	12
31	88	12

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	95	5
2	95	5
3	96	4
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	97	3
7	97	3
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	99	1
14	99	1
15	99	1
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