Weather in Delhi in May

The month to avoid. Of the twelve, May is the one to avoid. Daytime highs average 42.6 °C and the afternoon is not negotiable — outdoor plans move to early morning or evening.

May ranks 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Delhi's year. December is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 77 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain falls on only 5 days, so an itinerary with no wet-weather fallback is a reasonable risk. Pack for heat management rather than style: shade, water, and a schedule that gives up on the middle of the day.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 31 days of the month clear 35 °C — that is not a heatwave, it is the month; the day swings 15.6 °C from low to high, which means one bag has to cover both. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest May day reached 47.9 °C and the coldest night fell to 17.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 44 mm — roughly 133% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. May rainfall has ranged from 3 mm to 113 mm across the twenty years measured — a 110 mm spread around an average of 33 mm. The average is real but almost no individual May looks like it, so treat the figure as the middle of a wide range rather than a forecast.

Wind is light at 8.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and the air is dry at 23% humidity, which makes the heat far more bearable than the same figure somewhere humid — and dehydrates you faster than you expect.

How May sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 39.1 °C in April, 42.6 here, 41.9 in June. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: June brings 6 days more of it, so the earlier half of a flexible trip is the safer half.

Daylight in May

May is at or near the longest days of Delhi's year: 13.6 hours of daylight, gaining 0.6 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 35.8 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. Within May itself the daily swing is 15.6 °C, so mornings and afternoons need different clothes.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

May in Delhi versus nearby

If Delhi is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Agra is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain. Rishīkesh is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.1 °C cooler, 3 days more rain.

So: May is a compromise. December is 68 points better and is what Delhi is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Delhi

See all twelve months in Delhi, or where else to go in May.