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Climate · Queenstown

Queenstown in May

Cool and wet, as the days shorten.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Queenstown is cool: highs near 53°F, lows near 37°F. Rain falls on about four days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days shorten by 1 hour from the first week to the last.May in Queenstown is cool: highs near 12°C, lows near 3°C. Rain falls on about four days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days shorten by 1 hour from the first week to the last.

High
53°F12°Caverage
Low
37°F3°Caverage
Wet days
4a week · 51% of days
Daylight
9h 31mon average

Is May a good time to visit Queenstown?

May sits outside Queenstown's best months, which run from January to February. Expect cool days and rain on about four days 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 53°F in May, against 42°F to 71°F through the year.Highs near 12°C in May, against 6°C to 22°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

51% of days in May, against 41% to 57% through the year.

Cloud cover

70% cover in May, against 57% to 70% through the year.

Daylight

9h 31m in May, against 8h 49m to 15h 34m 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. April60°16°low 42°low 6°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. May53°12°low 37°low 3°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.
  3. June45°7°low 32°low 0°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.

Where Queenstown sits, in May

Pacific/Auckland
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
7:55 AMsets 5:28 PM
Above the sea
310 mlow-lying
Latitude
45.0°Ssouthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Wānaka53 km north-east

The land around Queenstown, 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 New Zealand in May

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

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Queenstown. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (310 m) against the climate model's (716 m).Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (310 m) against the climate model's (716 m). 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.