Climate averages 1991–2020
Niigata weather
in May.
A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Niigata: daytime highs average 19.4°C and nights cool to about 11.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 99 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes May a wet month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 12 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Shibata (26 km away). In May its highs average 20.3°C, 0.9°C warmer than Niigata, with 123 mm of rain.
Among the 303 cities listed in Japan, Niigata ranks joint 269th of 303 for the warmest May highs and 18th of 303 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 303 cities is 21.3°C; Niigata is 1.9°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 3.7°C to 23.1°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 99 mm to 123 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
Niigata climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.2°C0.0°C | 0.0°C | 178 | 26.6 | 9.910 h |
| February | 4.7°C-0.6°C | -0.6°C | 115 | 21.3 | 10.811 h |
| March | 8.6°C1.8°C | 1.8°C | 110 | 18.6 | 11.912 h |
| April | 14.1°C6.0°C | 6.0°C | 90 | 12.6 | 13.213 h |
| May, selected | 19.4°C11.4°C | 11.4°C | 99 | 11.8 | 14.214 h |
| June | 23.1°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 123 | 11.2 | 14.715 h |
| July | 26.6°C21.2°C | 21.2°C | 226 | 15.2 | 14.515 h |
| August | 28.3°C22.7°C | 22.7°C | 159 | 12.9 | 13.614 h |
| September | 24.7°C19.2°C | 19.2°C | 146 | 14.2 | 12.512 h |
| October | 19.1°C13.1°C | 13.1°C | 155 | 15.8 | 11.211 h |
| November | 13.2°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 164 | 19.7 | 10.210 h |
| December | 7.5°C2.7°C | 2.7°C | 195 | 25.4 | 9.610 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
- Shibata in MayJapan · 26 kmHigh 20.3°C · Low 10.5°C · 123 mm rain
- Tsubame in MayJapan · 30 kmHigh 20.3°C · Low 11.0°C · 96 mm rain
- Sanjō in MayJapan · 35 kmHigh 21.1°C · Low 10.6°C · 116 mm rain
- Nagaoka in MayJapan · 55 kmHigh 21.4°C · Low 10.6°C · 94 mm rain
- Kashiwazaki in MayJapan · 75 kmHigh 21.2°C · Low 11.1°C · 104 mm rain
- Aizu-Wakamatsu in MayJapan · 93 kmHigh 20.0°C · Low 9.8°C · 95 mm rain
- Yonezawa in MayJapan · 94 kmHigh 20.0°C · Low 9.8°C · 116 mm rain
- Jōetsu in MayJapan · 112 kmHigh 21.0°C · Low 11.5°C · 92 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 Niigata) is explained once on the Niigata year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.