How warm is it in New York in May?

Daytime highs averaged 17.1 °C, night-time lows 11.7 °C. The highest value of the past 10 years was 27.8 °C (31 May 2022), the lowest 2.7 °C (9 May 2020).

How often does it rain in New York in May?

On average there were 13.0 rain days (at least 1 mm) with 123 mm of precipitation in total.

🇺🇸 Weather in New York in May

This is what the weather in New York (USA) was like in May in 2017–2026.

Key facts at a glance

Prevailing weather: Partly cloudy

Avg. daytime high

17.1 °C

15.3 °C – 17.9 °C

Avg. night-time low

11.7 °C

9.6 °C – 13.0 °C

Avg. rain days in period

13.0

42 % of days · ≥ 1.0 mm

Avg. precipitation in period

123 mm

40.9 mm – 209 mm

Avg. cloud cover

66 %

This data source has no sunshine hours – average cloud cover shown instead.

Avg. sea temperature

–

Sea temperature unavailable for today (daily limit).

Extremes: Highest temperature 27.8 °C (31 May 2022) · Lowest temperature 2.7 °C (9 May 2020) · Avg. daily peak wind 24 km/h

Weather mix of all days

50Sunny
81Partly cloudy
49Cloudy
67Light rain
63Rain

Summary

On average 17.1 °C during the day and 11.7 °C at night.
On average 13.0 rain days (Rain day = at least 1.0 mm of precipitation) with 123 mm of precipitation in total.
Prevailing: Partly cloudy.
Warmest year: 2018 (avg. 17.9 °C), coolest: 2020 (avg. 15.3 °C).
Wettest year: 2017 (209 mm), driest: 2023 (40.9 mm).
Extremes: 27.8 °C on 31 May 2022 and 2.7 °C on 9 May 2020.

Overall values from all 10 years. How is this calculated?

Temperatures per year

Average over your travel period

Precipitation & rain days

Year by year

2026
Avg. max17.3°Avg. min11.5°
Rain days
13 Rain days
Precipitation
68.3 mm
Avg. cloud cover
63 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 25.4 °C · Min 6.9 °C
2025
Avg. max17.2°Avg. min12.2°
Rain days
18 Rain days
Precipitation
193 mm
Avg. cloud cover
76 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 22.4 °C · Min 9.2 °C
2024
Avg. max17.9°Avg. min13.0°
Rain days
13 Rain days
Precipitation
75.1 mm
Avg. cloud cover
69 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 23.2 °C · Min 9.1 °C
2023
Avg. max17.3°Avg. min11.5°
Rain days
5 Rain days
Precipitation
40.9 mm
Avg. cloud cover
46 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 22.4 °C · Min 7.7 °C
2022
Avg. max17.3°Avg. min12.0°
Rain days
13 Rain days
Precipitation
117 mm
Avg. cloud cover
68 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 27.8 °C · Min 6.6 °C
2021
Avg. max17.5°Avg. min11.3°
Rain days
10 Rain days
Precipitation
139 mm
Avg. cloud cover
61 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 25.2 °C · Min 5.0 °C
2020
Avg. max15.3°Avg. min9.6°
Rain days
11 Rain days
Precipitation
49.7 mm
Avg. cloud cover
65 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 21.8 °C · Min 2.7 °C
2019
Avg. max16.9°Avg. min11.9°
Rain days
19 Rain days
Precipitation
199 mm
Avg. cloud cover
74 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 23.3 °C · Min 6.8 °C
2018
Avg. max17.9°Avg. min12.6°
Rain days
14 Rain days
Precipitation
144 mm
Avg. cloud cover
71 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 23.3 °C · Min 6.3 °C
2017
Avg. max16.1°Avg. min11.4°
Rain days
14 Rain days
Precipitation
209 mm
Avg. cloud cover
71 % cloudy
Sea temperature
–
Max 23.8 °C · Min 7.2 °C

Frequently asked questions

How warm is it in New York in May?: Daytime highs averaged 17.1 °C, night-time lows 11.7 °C. The highest value of the past 10 years was 27.8 °C (31 May 2022), the lowest 2.7 °C (9 May 2020).
How often does it rain in New York in May?: On average there were 13.0 rain days (at least 1 mm) with 123 mm of precipitation in total.

Check your exact travel dates

Choose your travel period – we show the weather for exactly those days.

Data sources

Weather data: Data obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program
Reanalysis (weather model constrained by observations) on a coarse grid of about 50 km. Values represent a large area and can differ from local conditions, especially on islands, coasts and in mountains. No sunshine duration.
Reanalysis (weather model constrained by observations)
Reanalysis values represent a grid cell (approx. 25–50 km) and may differ from local measurements on coasts, islands and in mountains.
Sea temperature: MUR SST data were provided by JPL under support by NASA MEaSUREs program; accessed via NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP
Daily multi-scale ultra-high resolution (≈ 1 km) analysis of satellite measurements (infrared, microwave) and in-situ data. Represents the foundation temperature below the daily warm surface layer. (Satellite and in-situ analysis)
Place search: Natural Earth (public domain) · GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) / OpenStreetMap (ODbL)