Wet, but some Warm days
Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during May 2021 in Malaga was 24.0 Celsius (75F), and that was 0.1 Celsius (0.2 F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 16.1 Celsius (61F), and that was 0.1 Celsius (0.2 F) below normal for May.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 33.4 Celsius (92F) on the 16th. This was the warmest May day since records began in 2005. The previous record was 32.5 Celsius (91F) recorded in 2006. At Malaga Airport the temperature rose to 35.6 Celsius (96F) on the same day, and that was the highest May temperature since records began in 1942. There were 3 other days when the temperature exceeded 30 Celsius (86F), the 13th, 14th, and the 22nd. The 22nd was the warmest of these 3 days with a high of 31.1 Celsius (88F). On most days (17) the maximum temperature was between 21 and 25 Celsius (70-77F), but there were some cooler days, these mainly occurring during the first week. On 3 occasions, the temperature failed to reach 20 Celsius (68F). Highs of 19.7 Celsius (67F) were recorded on both the 5th and 27th, but the 4th was the coolest with 19.6 Celsius (67F) measured.
There were no particularly warm nights during May, but the temperature only fell to 18.0 Celsius (64F), or higher, on 7 nights. Only 1 of these warmer nights occurred before mid-month, that was on the 14th, when 18.3 Celsius (65F) was measured. The 30th had a similar low, but the warmest nights were the 17th and 31st, when minima of 18.6 Celsius (66F) were recorded. On most other nights the temperature fell to between 14 and 18 Celsius (57-64F), but 3 nights, these all occurring before the 5th, had minima below 14 Celsius (57F). The only night to have a temperature below 13 Celsius (55F) was the 2nd, when 11.9 Celsius (54F) was measured.
The sea temperature briefly fell to 16 Celsius (61F) early in the month, but generally values were closer to 18 Celsius (64F), with 19 Celsius (66F) more typical during the last week of May.
Rain
There were 49.9 millimetres (2 ins.) of rain during May. This was 248% of the monthly average, and the third wettest May since records began in 2005. Measurable rain fell on 8 days, and that was 4 days above normal. Showers on the third day of the month gave 3.5 millimetres (0.14 ins.) of rain, and the end of the first week was unsettled, although the wettest day, the 3rd, only had 4.3 millimetres (<0.2 ins.) of rain. From the 11th until the 22nd it was dry, but on the 23rd heavy, and sometimes prolonged, showers gave 35.8 millimetres (1.4 ins.) of rain, and this was only 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) under the record daily May total that occurred in 2016. Further rain occurred on the afternoon and evening of the 27th. Only 4.6 millimetres (<0.2 ins.) of rain fell, with 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) occurring in the early hours of the 28th. This was the last rain of the month.
Thunder
There were 2 days with thunderstorms during May. The first was during the evening of the 8th, and although there was plenty of lightning, thunder was infrequent and rain was light. On the 23rd, thunder occurred in association with the heavy rain during the afternoon.
Wind
It was quite breezy during May, especially around the middle of the month. Brisk northwesterly winds occurred on the very warm days, and on several days there were moderate cooling southeasterly sea breezes during the afternoons. However, occasionally there were also a few unpleasant southwesterly winds that ran parallel to the beach and whipped up the sand spoiling afternoon sunbathing. There were 4 days when gusts exceeded 20 knots (23 mph). but on 3 of those days, there were just isolated gusts associated with heavy showers. The highest gust was 30 knots (35 mph) on the 9th.
Fog
Sea fog occurred at times until mid-afternoon on the 7th, and was wet enough to produce 0.3 millimetres (0.01 ins.) of ‘precipitation’.
Statistics for May 2021
| Reporting Station | Highest Temp | Lowest Temp | Rain Total (mm) | Wettest | Rain days |
| Malaga Airport | 35.6 | 10.8 | 43 | 25 | 7 |
| Malaga Harbour | 32.7 | 14.3 | 58 | 25 | 6 |
| Fuengirola | * | * | 26 | 14 | 4 |
| Granada Airport | 33.5 | 2.6 | 32 | 9 | 6 |
| Almeria | 32.5 | 10.7 | 16 | 13 | 4 |
| Seville | 35.1 | 7.6 | 9 | 6 | 4 |
| Cordoba | 36.4 | 6.7 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| Jerez de la Frontera | 35.4 | 4.7 | 11 | 5 | 3 |
| Murcia | 36.1 | 11.2 | 66 | 33 | 7 |
Climatology for May
| Reporting Station | Extreme High Temp | Extreme Low Temp | Average Rain (mm) | Extreme Wettest day (mm) | Average Rain days |
| Malaga Airport | 35.6 | 5.0 | 25 | 44 | 3 |
| Granada Airport | 39.4 | -0.2 | 28 | 57 | 4 |
| Almeria | 36.3 | 8.4 | 14 | 44 | 2 |
| Seville | 39.1 | 3.8 | 34 | 45 | 4 |
| Cordoba | 40.1 | 2.4 | 34 | 44 | 5 |
| Jerez de la Frontera | 38.2 | 5.0 | 37 | 74 | 4 |
| Murcia | 38.5 | 5.0 | 32 | 35 | 4 |