Climate averages 1991–2020

Fayetteville weather
in May.

A warm, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the 4th driest of the year.

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

Average high 26.6°C Daytime mean, May
Average low 16.1°C Night-time mean, May
Rainfall 84 mm 10 days with ≥1 mm
Daylight 14 h Sunrise to sunset, per day
Every month in Fayetteville · average highYear overview

May is a warm month in Fayetteville: daytime highs average 26.6°C and nights cool to about 16.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.

Expect about 84 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 59 min on an average May day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Cary (83 km away). In May its highs average 25.3°C, 1.3°C cooler than Fayetteville, with 90 mm of rain.

Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Fayetteville ranks joint 138th of 498 for the warmest May highs and joint 238th of 498 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 498 cities is 23.8°C; Fayetteville is 2.8°C warmer than that mean.

From May to June, average highs rise by 3.5°C to 30.2°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 84 mm to 106 mm.

The annual picture

May in context

30-year average
Average highAverage low°C
Average daily high and low temperatures by month The same values are available in the monthly table below. Lines show mean daily maxima and minima, not a forecast interval. -505101520253035 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Monthly rainfall

Average total · mm
Average monthly rainfall totalsEach bar is a mean monthly total over 1991–2020. Full numbers are in the table. JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 1500

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

Every month, side by side

Fayetteville climate table

1991–2020
Monthly climate averages for Fayetteville, 1991–2020
MonthAverage highHigh / lowAverage lowRainfall mm/monthRain days ≥1 mm/dayDaylight hours/dayDay­light h/day
January 11.2°C2.0°C2.0°C909.110.110 h
February 13.2°C3.1°C3.1°C828.610.911 h
March 17.3°C6.4°C6.4°C949.411.912 h
April 22.5°C11.3°C11.3°C858.213.013 h
May, selected 26.6°C16.1°C16.1°C849.714.014 h
June 30.2°C20.6°C20.6°C10612.114.514 h
July 31.9°C22.8°C22.8°C11815.314.314 h
August 30.5°C21.9°C21.9°C12513.513.513 h
September 27.6°C19.0°C19.0°C12810.212.412 h
October 22.4°C12.9°C12.9°C827.311.311 h
November 17.0°C7.2°C7.2°C807.610.410 h
December 12.8°C3.7°C3.7°C938.79.810 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 Fayetteville

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