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Climate · Wānaka

Wānaka in May

Cool and damp, as the days shorten.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Wānaka is cool: highs near 51°F, lows near 37°F. Rain falls on about three days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days shorten by 59 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Wānaka is cool: highs near 11°C, lows near 3°C. Rain falls on about three days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days shorten by 59 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
51°F11°Caverage
Low
37°F3°Caverage
Wet days
3a week · 45% of days
Daylight
9h 33mon average

Is May a good time to visit Wānaka?

May sits outside Wānaka's best months, which run from January to February. Expect cool days and rain on about three 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 51°F in May, against 40°F to 69°F through the year.Highs near 11°C in May, against 4°C to 21°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

45% of days in May, against 37% to 54% through the year.

Cloud cover

62% cover in May, against 50% to 62% through the year.

Daylight

9h 33m in May, against 8h 52m to 15h 31m 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. April59°15°low 42°low 6°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. May51°11°low 37°low 3°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  3. June43°6°low 31°low -1°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.

Where Wānaka sits, in May

Pacific/Auckland
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
7:52 AMsets 5:27 PM
Above the sea
520 mlow-lying
Latitude
44.7°Ssouthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Queenstown53 km south-west

The land around Wānaka, 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 Wānaka

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Wānaka. 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 (520 m) against the climate model's (671 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 (520 m) against the climate model's (671 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.