Weather in Rishīkesh in May

The month to avoid. May is the month most people should skip in Rishīkesh. Daytime highs average 40.5 °C and the afternoon is not negotiable — outdoor plans move to early morning or evening.

May ranks 11 of 12 — near the bottom of Rishīkesh's year. November is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 79 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 8 days, 1 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. 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: 30 days of the month clear 35 °C — that is not a heatwave, it is the month. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest May day reached 47.1 °C and the coldest night fell to 17.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 36 mm — roughly 86% of the month's rain in one day.

May is moderately variable: 2 mm in the driest year against 115 mm in the wettest, around an average of 42 mm. Roughly two Mays in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 8.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and the air is dry at 27% 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: 36.8 °C in April, 40.5 here, 39.7 in June. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much. Rain is the thing that moves: June brings 7 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 Rishīkesh'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 — 30.9 °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 14.6 °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 Rishīkesh versus nearby

If Rishīkesh is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Shimla is a better bet in May — 11.9 °C cooler, 1 day less rain. Chandigarh is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: May is a compromise. November is 68 points better and is what Rishīkesh 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 Rishīkesh

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