Climate averages 1991–2020

Nuuk weather
in May.

A cold, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the 5th driest of the year.

Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.

Average high 2.7°C Daytime mean, May

Average low -2.5°C Night-time mean, May

Rainfall 58 mm 8 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 18 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

May is a cold month in Nuuk: daytime highs average 2.7°C and nights cool to about -2.5°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.

Expect about 58 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 18 h 23 min on an average May day.

From May to June, average highs rise by 6.1°C to 8.8°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 58 mm to 65 mm.

The annual picture

May in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly precipitation

Average total · mm

Averages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated

Every month, side by side

Nuuk climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Nuuk, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Precipitation mm/month	Wet days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January	-11.8°C-17.6°C	-17.6°C	56	9.4	5.55 h
February	-11.8°C-17.8°C	-17.8°C	43	7.1	8.58 h
March	-8.9°C-15.1°C	-15.1°C	48	7.9	11.712 h
April	-2.4°C-8.0°C	-8.0°C	53	8.2	15.015 h
May, selected	2.7°C-2.5°C	-2.5°C	58	8.3	18.418 h
June	8.8°C2.9°C	2.9°C	65	9.5	20.921 h
July	12.1°C5.9°C	5.9°C	62	9.0	19.720 h
August	11.1°C5.5°C	5.5°C	78	11.3	16.416 h
September	6.8°C1.4°C	1.4°C	96	12.2	13.113 h
October	0.1°C-5.6°C	-5.6°C	79	10.5	9.810 h
November	-6.5°C-12.1°C	-12.1°C	77	11.0	6.67 h
December	-9.5°C-15.6°C	-15.6°C	61	10.4	4.44 h

Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.

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 limits

How these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Nuuk) is explained once on the Nuuk year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.