Buenos Aires (BA) weather in May

May in Buenos Aires: nice, a little rain, with clean air — an excellent time to visit.

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Buenos Aires🇦🇷 Argentina · Pampas & Uruguay · City82
  1. 79Jan
  2. 79Feb
  3. 81Mar
  4. 84Apr
  5. 82May
  6. 78Jun
  7. 76Jul
  8. 82Aug
  9. 86Sep
  10. 90Oct
  11. 88Nov
  12. 83Dec

#6 of 12 months in Buenos Aires · #631 of 1413 destinations to visit in May · comfort 82/100 (tier A)

Days
19°C
Nights
12°C
Wet days
7
Sun
7.4 h
Humidity
78%
Daylight
10 h
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Photo: Guillermo Berlin · Pexels

What May is like in Buenos Aires

Cool and grey, with the first real cold and the football season at its most intense.

low season

confidence: high

Traveller notes on Buenos Aires in May

Regulars are specific this month often runs milder than its late-autumn calendar position suggests - one recent visitor who worried about cold found the weather close to perfect or even a touch warm, with autumn's real chill still holding off. Our row backs the mild-cool read, 18.8C over 11.8C nights feeling 9C, with 68mm of rain across 7.1 days and a real 21.8 kph wind. Regulars are consistent this isn't a particularly rainy or dreary month either, pointing to August or September as the wetter stretch by comparison, and call the real draw here noticeably thinner crowds than peak season. The sea sits at 17.6C. The record: humidity 78 percent, 7.4 hours of sun and one of the cleanest air readings in this project, AQI 36.
AutumnHasNotQuiteArrivedYet · May · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Other months in Buenos Aires

December opens the summer here and the board argues about the humidity rather than the heat - some compare it to a New York July, others say it is nowhere near Miami. Our column takes the second side: 64 percent humidity with a dew point of 15.3C, so 28.3C reads as 30C rather than worse. The heat builds through the month, with the worst of it after the solstice and into January and February. Early December is the recommended half. One practical note they repeat: the subway is not air-conditioned and is stuffy in summer, so buses, taxis and walking are the way about. The jacarandas have finished by now. The record: 12.1 hours of sun, a 23.7 kph wind and AQI 32.
HotButNotMiami · December · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
September is the join between winter and spring here and regulars describe it as pleasant with a gap in it: warm enough by day, cool and fresh once the sun goes, so an evening layer is not optional. Our row gives 19.3C days feeling like 17C over 11.6C nights that feel like 8C, with a 24.1 kph wind doing most of that. The spring flowers are starting. The jacarandas are not - they begin in the first week of November and peak around the 15th to the 20th, so anyone booking this month for the purple streets has come six weeks early. Rain is moderate at 65.6mm across 6.1 days. The record: humidity 74 percent, 8.9 hours of sun and AQI 34.
SpringFlowersNotJacarandas · September · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
November is the month Buenos Aires regulars name as the year's best: warm without the heat and the mugginess of January and February, which our row puts at 25.8C days and 16.9C nights. What brings people specifically in this month is the jacarandas. The consensus timetable is that they start in the first week, are at their best somewhere around the 15th to the 20th, and can still be worth seeing at the end of the month - with the standing caveat that the trees keep their own calendar and no year repeats the last. They turn whole avenues and the parks purple. Our row's 25.1 kph wind is the other November fact, and 7.7 precipitation days carry 77.6mm. The record: 11.3 hours of sun, humidity 67 percent and AQI 32.
PeakAroundTheFifteenth · November · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Buenos Aires forum threads describe January as genuinely hot and humid, with posters citing typical highs in the low-to-mid 30s Celsius and occasional spikes into the low 40s on the hottest days, though that extreme wasn't described as common. Evenings were flagged repeatedly as staying hot, humid and still rather than cooling off, with several posters specifically recommending accommodation with air conditioning and ideally a pool for comfort. Rain does happen but was described as typically brief. Despite January being peak local vacation season, posters were split on crowd levels - some found the city noticeably quieter than usual as residents head to the coast, while others still found it busy, with a few suggesting a side trip to Mendoza or Patagonia for milder summer weather.
PalermoSojaRegular · January · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Year-round notes are on Buenos Aires's overview. Add your own note from Buenos Aires's card on the map.

Buenos Aires climate normals — May

Daytime high19°C / 66°F😎 nice
Nighttime low12°C / 53°F
Feels like (high)17°C / 63°F
Sea temperature18°C / 64°F🧊 bracing
Rainfall68 mm / 2.7 in🌦 some rain
Rainy days7 days
Humidity78%💦 very humid
Dew point10°C / 50°F
Sunshine7.4 h/day
Daylight10.3 h
Wind22 km/h / 14 mph
Air quality (US AQI)36🍃 good

Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.

Crowds in Buenos Aires in May

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Quietthe editor's quiet month, Feria del Libro

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Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Best months for Buenos Aires's weather

Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).

Fair weatherBuenos Aires's weather doesn't swing hard through the year — comfort stays fairly steady in every month.

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What's on in Buenos Aires in May

Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.

  • Nature

    Autumn in the plane trees

    15 Apr – 5 Jun · usuallyAutumn colour

    The plátanos along the avenues and through Palermo turn and drop over about six weeks. It is the quiet half of the city's two good seasons, and the cafés put the tables back outside for it.

  • Festival

    Feria del Libro

    22 Apr – 12 May · usuallyArts festivalCrowded

    The largest book fair in the Spanish-speaking world takes over La Rural for three weeks, and the city fills with readings and queues that have nothing to do with tourism. Source ↗

What's on around the world in May →

Where is Buenos Aires?

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Buenos Aires in May — FAQ

Is May a good time to visit Buenos Aires?
May in Buenos Aires: nice, a little rain, with clean air — an excellent time to visit. It ranks #6 of 12 months for Buenos Aires on SeasonMap's comfort score (82/100).
What is the weather like in Buenos Aires in May?
In May, Buenos Aires averages a daily high of 18.8°C and a low of 11.8°C, with about 68 mm of rain over roughly 7.1 rainy days.
What is the air quality in Buenos Aires in May?
Buenos Aires has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 36 in May.