Climate averages 1991–2020
Sofia weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Sofia: daytime highs average 19.9°C and nights cool to about 10.3°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 70 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 36 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Pernik (26 km away). In May its highs average 18.9°C, 0.9°C cooler than Sofia, with 52 mm of rain.
Among the 10 cities listed in Bulgaria, Sofia ranks joint 8th of 10 for the warmest May highs and 7th of 10 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 10 cities is 21.2°C; Sofia is 1.3°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 3.8°C to 23.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 70 mm to 62 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Sofia climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.6°C-4.3°C | -4.3°C | 39 | 7.6 | 9.49 h |
| February | 5.8°C-3.0°C | -3.0°C | 39 | 7.5 | 10.511 h |
| March | 10.1°C0.7°C | 0.7°C | 54 | 10.5 | 11.912 h |
| April | 15.2°C5.2°C | 5.2°C | 58 | 11.4 | 13.413 h |
| May, selected | 19.9°C10.3°C | 10.3°C | 70 | 13.5 | 14.615 h |
| June | 23.6°C14.3°C | 14.3°C | 62 | 11.6 | 15.315 h |
| July | 25.9°C16.4°C | 16.4°C | 51 | 9.6 | 15.015 h |
| August | 26.4°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 35 | 7.2 | 13.914 h |
| September | 21.9°C12.3°C | 12.3°C | 35 | 6.5 | 12.513 h |
| October | 16.5°C7.3°C | 7.3°C | 46 | 6.9 | 11.111 h |
| November | 10.5°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 36 | 6.7 | 9.810 h |
| December | 4.9°C-2.4°C | -2.4°C | 45 | 8.6 | 9.19 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
May in nearby cities
- Pernik in MayBulgaria · 26 kmHigh 18.9°C · Low 8.9°C · 52 mm rain
- Leskovac in MaySerbia · 117 kmHigh 21.9°C · Low 10.9°C · 70 mm rain
- Plovdiv in MayBulgaria · 132 kmHigh 21.9°C · Low 11.2°C · 56 mm rain
- Pleven in MayBulgaria · 132 kmHigh 22.9°C · Low 12.5°C · 78 mm rain
- Niš in MaySerbia · 135 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 11.6°C · 62 mm rain
- Kumanovo in MayNorth Macedonia · 146 kmHigh 22.4°C · Low 11.4°C · 53 mm rain
- Skopje in MayNorth Macedonia · 174 kmHigh 23.2°C · Low 11.8°C · 49 mm rain
- Pristina in MayKosovo · 176 kmHigh 20.3°C · Low 10.2°C · 76 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Sofia) is explained once on the Sofia year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.