Climate averages 1991–2020
Sapporo weather
in May.
A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 8th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Sapporo: daytime highs average 16.1°C and nights cool to about 6.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 93 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes May a wet month (the 8th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 38 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Ebetsu (17 km away). In May its highs average 15.8°C, about as warm as Sapporo, with 84 mm of rain.
Among the 303 cities listed in Japan, Sapporo ranks 293rd of 303 for the warmest May highs and 10th of 303 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 303 cities is 21.3°C; Sapporo is 5.2°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 4.0°C to 20.1°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 93 mm to 89 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly precipitation
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
Sapporo climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -3.0°C-9.0°C | -9.0°C | 52 | 10.3 | 9.49 h |
| February | -2.1°C-8.9°C | -8.9°C | 47 | 9.9 | 10.510 h |
| March | 1.9°C-5.5°C | -5.5°C | 64 | 12.1 | 11.912 h |
| April | 9.2°C-0.1°C | -0.1°C | 73 | 11.9 | 13.413 h |
| May, selected | 16.1°C6.7°C | 6.7°C | 93 | 12.5 | 14.615 h |
| June | 20.1°C12.2°C | 12.2°C | 89 | 11.9 | 15.315 h |
| July | 23.8°C16.9°C | 16.9°C | 138 | 13.9 | 15.015 h |
| August | 24.6°C18.5°C | 18.5°C | 191 | 14.2 | 13.914 h |
| September | 20.9°C14.7°C | 14.7°C | 155 | 14.7 | 12.513 h |
| October | 14.7°C8.0°C | 8.0°C | 99 | 13.6 | 11.111 h |
| November | 7.0°C1.2°C | 1.2°C | 88 | 14.4 | 9.810 h |
| December | -0.3°C-5.3°C | -5.3°C | 73 | 12.7 | 9.19 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.
Compare places
May in nearby cities
- Ebetsu in MayJapan · 17 kmHigh 15.8°C · Low 6.5°C · 84 mm rain
- Eniwa in MayJapan · 27 kmHigh 15.0°C · Low 6.2°C · 84 mm rain
- Otaru in MayJapan · 31 kmHigh 15.1°C · Low 7.0°C · 84 mm rain
- Iwamizawa in MayJapan · 36 kmHigh 16.2°C · Low 6.8°C · 83 mm rain
- Chitose in MayJapan · 37 kmHigh 14.1°C · Low 6.5°C · 95 mm rain
- Tomakomai in MayJapan · 52 kmHigh 12.7°C · Low 6.7°C · 109 mm rain
- Muroran in MayJapan · 88 kmHigh 13.2°C · Low 7.0°C · 112 mm rain
- Asahikawa in MayJapan · 113 kmHigh 15.9°C · Low 5.6°C · 91 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 Sapporo) is explained once on the Sapporo year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.