How warm is it in Cape Town in May?

Daytime highs averaged 17.9 °C, night-time lows 15.1 °C. The highest value of the past 10 years was 22.0 °C (20 May 2020), the lowest 12.2 °C (27 May 2023).

How often does it rain in Cape Town in May?

On average there were 9.0 rain days (at least 1 mm) with 79.0 mm of precipitation in total.

🇿🇦 Weather in Cape Town in May

This is what the weather in Cape Town (South Africa) was like in May in 2017–2026.

Key facts at a glance

Prevailing weather: Sunny

Avg. daytime high

17.9 °C

16.8 °C – 18.8 °C

Avg. night-time low

15.1 °C

14.4 °C – 15.8 °C

Avg. rain days in period

9.0

29 % of days · ≥ 1.0 mm

Avg. precipitation in period

79.0 mm

11.6 mm – 197 mm

Avg. cloud cover

30 %

This data source has no sunshine hours – average cloud cover shown instead.

Avg. sea temperature

–

Sea temperature unavailable for today (daily limit).

Extremes: Highest temperature 22.0 °C (20 May 2020) · Lowest temperature 12.2 °C (27 May 2023) · Avg. daily peak wind 26 km/h

Weather mix of all days

158Sunny
52Partly cloudy
10Cloudy
54Light rain
36Rain

Summary

On average 17.9 °C during the day and 15.1 °C at night.
On average 9.0 rain days (Rain day = at least 1.0 mm of precipitation) with 79.0 mm of precipitation in total.
Prevailing: Sunny.
Warmest year: 2020 (avg. 18.8 °C), coolest: 2023 (avg. 16.8 °C).
Wettest year: 2021 (197 mm), driest: 2017 (11.6 mm).
Extremes: 22.0 °C on 20 May 2020 and 12.2 °C on 27 May 2023.

Overall values from all 10 years. How is this calculated?

Temperatures per year

Average over your travel period

Precipitation & rain days

Year by year

2026
Avg. max17.4°Avg. min15.1°
Rain days
9 Rain days
Precipitation
126 mm
Avg. cloud cover
38 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 19.0 °C · Min 13.8 °C
2025
Avg. max18.2°Avg. min15.2°
Rain days
8 Rain days
Precipitation
62.9 mm
Avg. cloud cover
24 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.9 °C · Min 13.4 °C
2024
Avg. max17.8°Avg. min15.0°
Rain days
10 Rain days
Precipitation
39.3 mm
Avg. cloud cover
28 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.0 °C · Min 13.0 °C
2023
Avg. max16.8°Avg. min14.4°
Rain days
11 Rain days
Precipitation
130 mm
Avg. cloud cover
26 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 18.9 °C · Min 12.2 °C
2022
Avg. max17.9°Avg. min14.9°
Rain days
9 Rain days
Precipitation
42.3 mm
Avg. cloud cover
23 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.8 °C · Min 12.9 °C
2021
Avg. max17.3°Avg. min14.7°
Rain days
13 Rain days
Precipitation
197 mm
Avg. cloud cover
30 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.3 °C · Min 12.7 °C
2020
Avg. max18.8°Avg. min15.8°
Rain days
8 Rain days
Precipitation
47.6 mm
Avg. cloud cover
29 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 22.0 °C · Min 13.3 °C
2019
Avg. max18.2°Avg. min15.2°
Rain days
6 Rain days
Precipitation
62.9 mm
Avg. cloud cover
38 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.6 °C · Min 13.7 °C
2018
Avg. max18.5°Avg. min15.7°
Rain days
11 Rain days
Precipitation
70.6 mm
Avg. cloud cover
40 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.7 °C · Min 14.0 °C
2017
Avg. max18.2°Avg. min15.1°
Rain days
5 Rain days
Precipitation
11.6 mm
Avg. cloud cover
24 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.9 °C · Min 12.9 °C

Frequently asked questions

How warm is it in Cape Town in May?: Daytime highs averaged 17.9 °C, night-time lows 15.1 °C. The highest value of the past 10 years was 22.0 °C (20 May 2020), the lowest 12.2 °C (27 May 2023).
How often does it rain in Cape Town in May?: On average there were 9.0 rain days (at least 1 mm) with 79.0 mm of precipitation in total.

Check your exact travel dates

Choose your travel period – we show the weather for exactly those days.

Data sources

Weather data: Data obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program
Reanalysis (weather model constrained by observations) on a coarse grid of about 50 km. Values represent a large area and can differ from local conditions, especially on islands, coasts and in mountains. No sunshine duration.
Reanalysis (weather model constrained by observations)
Reanalysis values represent a grid cell (approx. 25–50 km) and may differ from local measurements on coasts, islands and in mountains.
Sea temperature: MUR SST data were provided by JPL under support by NASA MEaSUREs program; accessed via NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP
Daily multi-scale ultra-high resolution (≈ 1 km) analysis of satellite measurements (infrared, microwave) and in-situ data. Represents the foundation temperature below the daily warm surface layer. (Satellite and in-situ analysis)
Place search: Natural Earth (public domain) · GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) / OpenStreetMap (ODbL)