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Climate · Canberra

Canberra in May

Mild and mostly dry, as the days shorten.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Canberra is mild: highs near 61°F, lows near 41°F. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days shorten by 41 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Canberra is mild: highs near 16°C, lows near 5°C. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days shorten by 41 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
61°F16°Caverage
Low
41°F5°Caverage
Wet days
1a week · 19% of days
Daylight
10h 17mon average

Is May a good time to visit Canberra?

May sits outside Canberra's best months, which run in two parts: February to April, or December. Expect mild days and rain on about one day a week.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 61°F in May, against 53°F to 83°F through the year.Highs near 16°C in May, against 12°C to 28°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

19% of days in May, against 18% to 34% through the year.

Cloud cover

42% cover in May, against 37% to 52% through the year.

Daylight

10h 17m in May, against 9h 49m to 14h 30m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with May shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. April69°21°low 47°low 8°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  2. May61°16°low 41°low 5°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  3. June55°13°low 37°low 3°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.

Where Canberra sits, in May

Australia/Sydney
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
6:51 AMsets 5:09 PM
Above the sea
550 mlow-lying
Latitude
35.3°Ssouthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Falls Creek239 km south-west

The land around Canberra, shaded by its typical high in May, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in Australia in May

high · low · wet days
See May on the planning mapThe whole year in Canberra

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Canberra. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.