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Climate · Johannesburg

Johannesburg in May

Mild and mostly dry, as the days shorten.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Johannesburg is mild: highs near 69°F, lows near 43°F. Rain falls on about one day a week, less often as the month goes on, and the days shorten by 28 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Johannesburg is mild: highs near 21°C, lows near 6°C. Rain falls on about one day a week, less often as the month goes on, and the days shorten by 28 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
69°F21°Caverage
Low
43°F6°Caverage
Wet days
1a week · 12% of days
Daylight
10h 51mon average

Is May a good time to visit Johannesburg?

A good month, just outside Johannesburg's best months, which run in two parts: April, or August to October.

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 69°F in May, against 64°F to 80°F through the year.Highs near 21°C in May, against 18°C to 27°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

12% of days in May, against 3% to 62% through the year.

Cloud cover

18% cover in May, against 11% to 44% through the year.

Daylight

10h 51m in May, against 10h 31m to 13h 45m 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. April72°22°low 50°low 10°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  2. May69°21°low 43°low 6°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  3. June64°18°low 38°low 3°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.

Where Johannesburg sits, in May

Africa/Johannesburg
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
6:38 AMsets 5:30 PM
Above the sea
1,750 mhigh country
Latitude
26.2°Ssouthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Pretoria53 km north

The land around Johannesburg, 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 South Africa in May

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

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Johannesburg. 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 (1,750 m) against the climate model's (1,673 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 (1,750 m) against the climate model's (1,673 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.