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The coolest places in Africa in May: ranked by average high temperature

Maseru tops the list at 18 °C in May. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in Africa.

Top three in May: Maseru (18 °C) , Johannesburg (19 °C) , Krugersdorp (19 °C) . Between first and 50th place the avg high differs by 4.8 °C.

# Destination Country Avg high Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 Maseru Lesotho 18 °C 18 °C 3.3 °C 29 mm 4 298 h –
2 Johannesburg South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 5.9 °C 17 mm 3 302 h –
3 Krugersdorp South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 6.1 °C 17 mm 3 305 h –
4 Botshabelo South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 5.5 °C 21 mm 3 302 h –
5 Soweto South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 6.5 °C 18 mm 3 303 h –
6 Cape Town South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 12 °C 57 mm 7 274 h 15 °C
7 Benoni South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 6.4 °C 15 mm 3 301 h –
8 George South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 12 °C 45 mm 7 277 h 17 °C
9 Emalahleni South Africa 19 °C 19 °C 6.2 °C 15 mm 3 303 h –
10 Limuru Kenya 20 °C 20 °C 12 °C 126 mm 20 315 h –
11 Bloemfontein South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 5.8 °C 20 mm 3 302 h –
12 Thembisa South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 7.1 °C 15 mm 2 303 h –
13 Carletonville South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 6.8 °C 19 mm 3 304 h –
14 Somerset West South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 12 °C 91 mm 9 274 h 16 °C
15 Evaton South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 6.7 °C 18 mm 3 302 h –
16 Welkom South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 6.3 °C 20 mm 3 305 h –
17 Middelburg South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 7.4 °C 15 mm 3 303 h –
18 Vereeniging South Africa 20 °C 20 °C 6.7 °C 17 mm 3 301 h –
19 Mbabane Eswatini 20 °C 20 °C 9.5 °C 32 mm 5 296 h –
20 Kitale Kenya 21 °C 21 °C 12 °C 207 mm 23 301 h –
21 Centurion South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 8.1 °C 16 mm 2 304 h –
22 Al Hoceïma Morocco 21 °C 21 °C 15 °C 26 mm 4 394 h 18 °C
23 Gqeberha South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 15 °C 24 mm 4 283 h 19 °C
24 Newcastle South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 7.1 °C 17 mm 3 293 h –
25 Fianarantsoa Madagascar 21 °C 21 °C 13 °C 25 mm 6 300 h –
26 Antsirabe Madagascar 21 °C 21 °C 11 °C 21 mm 4 320 h –
27 Kikuyu Kenya 21 °C 21 °C 13 °C 91 mm 16 325 h –
28 Hosa’ina Ethiopia 21 °C 21 °C 12 °C 297 mm 25 317 h –
29 Naivasha Kenya 21 °C 21 °C 14 °C 122 mm 18 316 h –
30 Potchefstroom South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 7.1 °C 19 mm 3 305 h –
31 Vryheid South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 8.0 °C 20 mm 3 290 h –
32 Paarl South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 11 °C 101 mm 8 272 h –
33 Mzuzu Malawi 21 °C 21 °C 14 °C 50 mm 12 336 h –
34 Klerksdorp South Africa 21 °C 21 °C 7.0 °C 18 mm 3 307 h –
35 Mthatha South Africa 22 °C 22 °C 10 °C 26 mm 5 284 h –
36 Polokwane South Africa 22 °C 22 °C 10 °C 11 mm 2 309 h –
37 Sétif Algeria 22 °C 22 °C 9.8 °C 56 mm 9 363 h –
38 Tétouan Morocco 22 °C 22 °C 14 °C 39 mm 6 390 h 18 °C
39 Béjaïa Algeria 22 °C 22 °C 14 °C 53 mm 7 366 h 19 °C
40 Musanze Rwanda 22 °C 22 °C 15 °C 121 mm 18 328 h –
41 Antananarivo Madagascar 22 °C 22 °C 13 °C 12 mm 3 292 h –
42 Dessie Ethiopia 22 °C 22 °C 11 °C 46 mm 8 362 h –
43 Rustenburg South Africa 22 °C 22 °C 9.1 °C 17 mm 2 307 h –
44 Harare Zimbabwe 22 °C 22 °C 11 °C 6 mm 1 324 h –
45 Gweru Zimbabwe 22 °C 22 °C 11 °C 7 mm 1 320 h –
46 Gitega Burundi 22 °C 22 °C 14 °C 46 mm 10 341 h –
47 El Jadida Morocco 22 °C 22 °C 16 °C 15 mm 3 386 h 19 °C
48 Eldoret Kenya 22 °C 22 °C 13 °C 231 mm 21 320 h –
49 Mutare Zimbabwe 22 °C 22 °C 12 °C 13 mm 3 321 h –
50 Sodo Ethiopia 22 °C 22 °C 14 °C 211 mm 25 326 h –

Monthly values for the month named in the ranking; only destinations with a published climate page are ranked. Download this ranking as CSV.

The same ranking one month earlier and later

April: top 5

  1. Kayes 42 °C
  2. N'Djamena 41 °C
  3. Wad Medani 41 °C
  4. Singa 41 °C
  5. Niamey 41 °C

Full ranking for April

June: top 5

  1. Maseru 15 °C
  2. Botshabelo 16 °C
  3. Johannesburg 16 °C
  4. Krugersdorp 16 °C
  5. Bloemfontein 16 °C

Full ranking for June

How this ranking is built

What is ranked
The average daily high temperature, in °C, in May, lowest first.
Period
1991–2020 climate normals: the same 30 years for every destination, so the list compares like with like.
Who is included
50 destinations in Africa with a published climate page. Neighbouring places that share a climate series are shown once.
Ties
Equal values are ordered by population.
Sources
ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis via Open-Meteo; sea temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1. Measured values are reproduced unchanged; only the ordering is ours.

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: ranking order, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.