Melbourne has experienced average maximum temperatures in May which were slightly colder than usual, despite a very warm end to the month.

• Melbourne's long-term average max temp in May is 16.7°C.
• In 2023, the average max temp will fall around 16.5°C, or 0.2°C colder than the long-term average
• The last time Melbourne saw below-average maximums in May was 2020. Before that, you have to go back to 2011.

It's worth mentioning that the final May figure is not yet in, as we still have to register the max temp for today, Wednesday May 31.

But if we assume that Melbourne reaches its forecast Wednesday max of 19°C after a balmy 18.7°C on Tuesday, then even the current run of warm days will not prevent an overall monthly average max which is slightly below average.

For the record, Melbourne's coldest maximum in May 2023 was 13.4°C on May 7 and its warmest was 22.1°C on May 15.

What about nights?

• Melbourne's May nights were slightly warmer than usual in 2023.
• We do have the final figures for minimums, and the average min across the month was 9.0°C, compared to the long-term average of 8.7°C.

Image: Melbourne min temps in May 2023 were another example of slightly above average min temps which most of the state has experienced over the past 12 months. Source: BoM.

And rain?

• Melbourne has had a healthy 77.8 mm for the month on 17 separate days.
• Both the total rainfall and the number of rain days were slightly above average.

Those rain stats give you a pretty good indication of why Melbourne's days were slightly cooler than usual. Cloudy skies tend to keep daytime temps down, and there were also a couple of significant outbreaks of cool air from the southwest.

Rain was also one of the main culprits for nights being slightly warmer, as we all know that the coldest minimums tend to occur on dry, starry nights.

There were also one or two very warm dry nights with northwesterly winds, like last night.

Indeed, last night was the warmest night of the month, with a mild minimum of 14.0°C to 9 am Wednesday, while the night before it was the second-warmest with a min of 12.7°C.