Climate averages 1991–2020

Columbus weather
in May.

A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 11th driest of the year.

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

Average high 21.8°C Daytime mean, May

Average low 11.6°C Night-time mean, May

Rainfall 113 mm 13 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 14 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

May is a mild month in Columbus: daytime highs average 21.8°C and nights cool to about 11.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.

Expect about 113 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes May a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 22 min on an average May day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Dayton (104 km away). In May its highs average 22.0°C, about as warm as Columbus, with 116 mm of rain.

Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Columbus ranks joint 308th of 498 for the warmest May highs and joint 413th of 498 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 498 cities is 23.8°C; Columbus is 2.0°C cooler than that mean.

From May to June, average highs rise by 4.5°C to 26.3°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 113 mm to 103 mm.

The annual picture

May in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly rainfall

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

Columbus climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Columbus, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Rainfall mm/month	Rain days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January	2.2°C-6.1°C	-6.1°C	84	10.7	9.710 h
February	4.4°C-4.7°C	-4.7°C	71	9.4	10.711 h
March	9.7°C-0.2°C	-0.2°C	98	11.2	11.912 h
April	16.6°C5.6°C	5.6°C	115	12.4	13.213 h
May, selected	21.8°C11.6°C	11.6°C	113	13.3	14.414 h
June	26.3°C16.8°C	16.8°C	103	11.9	15.015 h
July	28.3°C19.0°C	19.0°C	88	11.1	14.715 h
August	27.8°C18.3°C	18.3°C	73	9.6	13.714 h
September	24.3°C14.6°C	14.6°C	73	8.3	12.512 h
October	17.5°C8.3°C	8.3°C	74	9.0	11.211 h
November	10.3°C2.1°C	2.1°C	80	9.4	10.010 h
December	4.5°C-2.7°C	-2.7°C	86	10.3	9.49 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

Distance from Columbus

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 Columbus) is explained once on the Columbus year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.