Ella weather in May

In May, Ella sees average daytime highs of 29°C and overnight lows near 21°C, with 141 mm of rain across 16.6 wet days and about 12.3 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 5th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 29°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 9% of the time in May, and the air most often feels muggy.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 12 min at the start of May to 12 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Ella's 5th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Ella's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 29°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 21°; 9th coldest
Rainfall: 141 mm; 16.6 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 18 min; 5:53 AM – 6:11 PM
Cloud cover: 75%; 5th clearest
Wind: 6 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 5.73 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.3; out of 10

← April Ella 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 29°C through the month.

A typical May day in Ella reaches about 29°C in the afternoon and slips back to 21°C overnight — a 8°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 28°C and 31°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 1°C warmer than 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)	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30
Avg low (°C)	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22

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

Ella weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 5th-warmest and 5th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	24° / 18°	131	15.7	11.6	5.9
Feb	25° / 18°	93	13.3	11.8	6.1
Mar	27° / 18°	84	12.7	12	6.0
Apr	28° / 20°	176	20.2	12.1	4.4
May	29° / 21°	141	16.6	12.3	4.3
Jun	30° / 22°	53	9.9	12.4	4.7
Jul	30° / 22°	52	7.9	12.4	4.8
Aug	30° / 21°	71	10	12.2	4.7
Sep	30° / 21°	128	13.6	12	4.5
Oct	28° / 20°	277	22	11.8	4.3
Nov	25° / 19°	269	24	11.7	4.3
Dec	24° / 19°	221	21.2	11.6	5.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 9% 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 74%.

	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 (%)	27	27	28	27	27	26	26	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	28	27	27	27	27	26	26	25	23	23	22	21	20
Cloudier (%)	73	73	72	73	73	74	74	74	74	74	73	73	73	73	72	72	72	72	72	73	73	73	73	74	74	75	77	77	78	79	80

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	27	73
2	27	73
3	28	72
4	27	73
5	27	73
6	26	74
7	26	74
8	26	74
9	26	74
10	26	74
11	27	73
12	27	73
13	27	73
14	27	73
15	28	72
16	28	72
17	28	72
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	27	73
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	27	73
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	25	75
27	23	77
28	23	77
29	22	78
30	21	79
31	20	80

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Ella gets around 141 mm of rain over 16.6 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 53% and peaks near 66% 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 (%)	66	66	65	65	64	63	62	61	59	58	56	54	53	51	50	49	48	47	46	46	46	46	47	47	48	49	49	49	49	49	49

	Rain chance (%)
1	66
2	66
3	65
4	65
5	64
6	63
7	62
8	61
9	59
10	58
11	56
12	54
13	53
14	51
15	50
16	49
17	48
18	47
19	46
20	46
21	46
22	46
23	47
24	47
25	48
26	49
27	49
28	49
29	49
30	49
31	49

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, May lands in the muggy band about 77% of days. Sticky, muggy-or-worse air turns up on roughly 90% of them.

	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
Humid (%)	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	8	8	8	9	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	13	13	14	15	16	17
Muggy (%)	84	83	81	80	79	78	77	77	75	75	75	74	74	75	74	75	76	75	76	76	77	78	78	78	78	78	78	78	77	77	76
Oppressive (%)	10	11	13	14	15	15	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	15	14	14	13	13	12	11	11	10	10	9	9	8	8	7	7

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	6	84	10
2	6	83	11
3	6	81	13
4	6	80	14
5	6	79	15
6	7	78	15
7	7	77	16
8	7	77	16
9	8	75	17
10	8	75	17
11	8	75	17
12	9	74	17
13	9	74	17
14	9	75	16
15	10	74	16
16	10	75	15
17	10	76	14
18	11	75	14
19	11	76	13
20	11	76	13
21	11	77	12
22	11	78	11
23	11	78	11
24	12	78	10
25	12	78	10
26	13	78	9
27	13	78	9
28	14	78	8
29	15	77	8
30	16	77	7
31	17	76	7

Wind in May

Winds average 6 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 4 km/h on the calmest days to 7 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)	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
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	4	calm
2	4	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	7	calm
26	7	calm
27	7	calm
28	7	calm
29	7	calm
30	7	calm
31	7	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 12 min at the start of May to 12 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 12 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:56 AM to 5:52 AM, and sunset from 6:10 PM to 6:14 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)	12.2	12.2	12.2	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4
Sunrise (AM)	5:56	5:56	5:55	5:55	5:55	5:55	5:54	5:54	5:54	5:54	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52	5:52
Sunset (PM)	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:10	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:14	6:14	6:14	6:14

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.2	5:56	6:10
2	12.2	5:56	6:10
3	12.2	5:55	6:10
4	12.3	5:55	6:10
5	12.3	5:55	6:10
6	12.3	5:55	6:10
7	12.3	5:54	6:10
8	12.3	5:54	6:11
9	12.3	5:54	6:11
10	12.3	5:54	6:11
11	12.3	5:53	6:11
12	12.3	5:53	6:11
13	12.3	5:53	6:11
14	12.3	5:53	6:11
15	12.3	5:53	6:11
16	12.3	5:53	6:11
17	12.3	5:53	6:12
18	12.3	5:52	6:12
19	12.3	5:52	6:12
20	12.3	5:52	6:12
21	12.3	5:52	6:12
22	12.3	5:52	6:12
23	12.3	5:52	6:13
24	12.3	5:52	6:13
25	12.3	5:52	6:13
26	12.4	5:52	6:13
27	12.4	5:52	6:13
28	12.4	5:52	6:14
29	12.4	5:52	6:14
30	12.4	5:52	6:14
31	12.4	5:52	6:14

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.73 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.94 kWh/m² to a high of 6.16 kWh/m² in March across the year — May's 5.73 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	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)	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7
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	5.7	Bright
2	5.7	Bright
3	5.7	Bright
4	5.7	Bright
5	5.7	Bright
6	5.7	Bright
7	5.7	Bright
8	5.7	Bright
9	5.7	Bright
10	5.7	Bright
11	5.7	Bright
12	5.7	Bright
13	5.7	Bright
14	5.8	Bright
15	5.8	Bright
16	5.8	Bright
17	5.8	Bright
18	5.8	Bright
19	5.8	Bright
20	5.8	Bright
21	5.8	Bright
22	5.8	Bright
23	5.8	Bright
24	5.8	Bright
25	5.8	Bright
26	5.7	Bright
27	5.7	Bright
28	5.7	Bright
29	5.7	Bright
30	5.7	Bright
31	5.7	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Ella

In seasonPeak

In May, Ella sits inside its rainy season season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Ella's rainy season runs September–January, 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 Ella?

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

4.3

Sightseeing

10th-best month of the year

5.7

Beach & pool

6th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Ella for sightseeing.

What to pack for Ella in May

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

In May, Ella sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 21°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 17 days see rain.

light clothesrain gearsun protection

UV index in Ella in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 14 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Ella peaks around April 13 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 10 (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)	11	13	14	14	14	11	12	13	13	12	11	10
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	13	Extreme
Mar	14	Extreme
Apr	14	Extreme
May	14	Extreme
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	12	Extreme
Aug	13	Extreme
Sep	13	Extreme
Oct	12	Extreme
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	10	Extreme

Air quality in Ella 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 Ella is worst in November — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 1.8× the cleanest month (July, 27 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)	42	36	41	44	36	27	27	28	29	41	48	44
Level	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Poor	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	42	Poor
Feb	36	Poor
Mar	41	Poor
Apr	44	Poor
May	36	Poor
Jun	27	Moderate
Jul	27	Moderate
Aug	28	Moderate
Sep	29	Moderate
Oct	41	Poor
Nov	48	Poor
Dec	44	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Ella?

Ella sits at 6.9°N, 81.0°E, 0 m above sea level, in Sri Lanka. The nearest listed city is Badulla, 12 km away.

Topography around Ella

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Ella has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 902 m around an average of 1,030 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,848 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,505 m.

The land around Ella is covered by trees (76%) and grassland (21%) within 3 km, trees (80%) within 16 km, and trees (84%) within 80 km.

3 km

902 m

trees 76%

16 km

1,848 m

trees 80%

80 km

2,505 m

trees 84%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

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

May weather nearby: Badulla 12 km · Nuwara Eliya 31 km · Hatton 50 km · Kataragama 60 km · Gampola 62 km · Kandy 65 km · Ratnapura 74 km · Matale 81 km

Sri Lanka travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type D / G / M; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 27% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $5,002; 2025
Happiness: 4.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 47%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 3.3; per 100k, 2019
Road deaths: 19.7; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 486
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 Ella (6.8756°, 81.0463°, elevation 0 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	29	20
2	29	20
3	29	21
4	29	21
5	29	21
6	29	21
7	29	21
8	29	21
9	29	21
10	29	21
11	29	21
12	29	21
13	29	21
14	29	21
15	29	21
16	30	21
17	30	21
18	30	21
19	30	21
20	30	21
21	30	21
22	30	22
23	30	22
24	30	22
25	30	22
26	30	22
27	30	22
28	30	22
29	30	22
30	30	22
31	30	22

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	27	73
2	27	73
3	28	72
4	27	73
5	27	73
6	26	74
7	26	74
8	26	74
9	26	74
10	26	74
11	27	73
12	27	73
13	27	73
14	27	73
15	28	72
16	28	72
17	28	72
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	27	73
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	27	73
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	25	75
27	23	77
28	23	77
29	22	78
30	21	79
31	20	80

	Rain chance (%)
1	66
2	66
3	65
4	65
5	64
6	63
7	62
8	61
9	59
10	58
11	56
12	54
13	53
14	51
15	50
16	49
17	48
18	47
19	46
20	46
21	46
22	46
23	47
24	47
25	48
26	49
27	49
28	49
29	49
30	49
31	49

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	6	84	10
2	6	83	11
3	6	81	13
4	6	80	14
5	6	79	15
6	7	78	15
7	7	77	16
8	7	77	16
9	8	75	17
10	8	75	17
11	8	75	17
12	9	74	17
13	9	74	17
14	9	75	16
15	10	74	16
16	10	75	15
17	10	76	14
18	11	75	14
19	11	76	13
20	11	76	13
21	11	77	12
22	11	78	11
23	11	78	11
24	12	78	10
25	12	78	10
26	13	78	9
27	13	78	9
28	14	78	8
29	15	77	8
30	16	77	7
31	17	76	7

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	27	73
2	27	73
3	28	72
4	27	73
5	27	73
6	26	74
7	26	74
8	26	74
9	26	74
10	26	74
11	27	73
12	27	73
13	27	73
14	27	73
15	28	72
16	28	72
17	28	72
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	27	73
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	27	73
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	25	75
27	23	77
28	23	77
29	22	78
30	21	79
31	20	80

	Rain chance (%)
1	66
2	66
3	65
4	65
5	64
6	63
7	62
8	61
9	59
10	58
11	56
12	54
13	53
14	51
15	50
16	49
17	48
18	47
19	46
20	46
21	46
22	46
23	47
24	47
25	48
26	49
27	49
28	49
29	49
30	49
31	49

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	6	84	10
2	6	83	11
3	6	81	13
4	6	80	14
5	6	79	15
6	7	78	15
7	7	77	16
8	7	77	16
9	8	75	17
10	8	75	17
11	8	75	17
12	9	74	17
13	9	74	17
14	9	75	16
15	10	74	16
16	10	75	15
17	10	76	14
18	11	75	14
19	11	76	13
20	11	76	13
21	11	77	12
22	11	78	11
23	11	78	11
24	12	78	10
25	12	78	10
26	13	78	9
27	13	78	9
28	14	78	8
29	15	77	8
30	16	77	7
31	17	76	7

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	27	73
2	27	73
3	28	72
4	27	73
5	27	73
6	26	74
7	26	74
8	26	74
9	26	74
10	26	74
11	27	73
12	27	73
13	27	73
14	27	73
15	28	72
16	28	72
17	28	72
18	28	72
19	28	72
20	27	73
21	27	73
22	27	73
23	27	73
24	26	74
25	26	74
26	25	75
27	23	77
28	23	77
29	22	78
30	21	79
31	20	80

	Rain chance (%)
1	66
2	66
3	65
4	65
5	64
6	63
7	62
8	61
9	59
10	58
11	56
12	54
13	53
14	51
15	50
16	49
17	48
18	47
19	46
20	46
21	46
22	46
23	47
24	47
25	48
26	49
27	49
28	49
29	49
30	49
31	49

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)	Oppressive (%)
1	6	84	10
2	6	83	11
3	6	81	13
4	6	80	14
5	6	79	15
6	7	78	15
7	7	77	16
8	7	77	16
9	8	75	17
10	8	75	17
11	8	75	17
12	9	74	17
13	9	74	17
14	9	75	16
15	10	74	16
16	10	75	15
17	10	76	14
18	11	75	14
19	11	76	13
20	11	76	13
21	11	77	12
22	11	78	11
23	11	78	11
24	12	78	10
25	12	78	10
26	13	78	9
27	13	78	9
28	14	78	8
29	15	77	8
30	16	77	7
31	17	76	7