Climate averages 1991–2020
Grand Rapids weather
in May.
A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Grand Rapids: daytime highs average 19.6°C and nights cool to about 9.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 108 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes May a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 38 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Wyoming (6 km away). In May its highs average 19.5°C, about as warm as Grand Rapids, with 108 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Grand Rapids ranks joint 406th of 498 for the warmest May highs and joint 395th of 498 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 498 cities is 23.8°C; Grand Rapids is 4.2°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 5.2°C to 24.8°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 108 mm to 95 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
Grand Rapids climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -1.2°C-8.2°C | -8.2°C | 62 | 10.5 | 9.49 h |
| February | 0.1°C-8.3°C | -8.3°C | 50 | 8.1 | 10.510 h |
| March | 6.1°C-3.3°C | -3.3°C | 63 | 9.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 13.2°C3.0°C | 3.0°C | 101 | 12.1 | 13.413 h |
| May, selected | 19.6°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 108 | 11.9 | 14.615 h |
| June | 24.8°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 95 | 11.3 | 15.315 h |
| July | 26.8°C18.0°C | 18.0°C | 96 | 10.8 | 15.015 h |
| August | 25.9°C17.4°C | 17.4°C | 92 | 10.5 | 13.914 h |
| September | 22.1°C13.6°C | 13.6°C | 79 | 9.3 | 12.513 h |
| October | 15.0°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 86 | 11.4 | 11.111 h |
| November | 7.6°C1.4°C | 1.4°C | 68 | 10.0 | 9.810 h |
| December | 1.7°C-3.8°C | -3.8°C | 60 | 10.8 | 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
- Wyoming in MayUnited States · 6 kmHigh 19.5°C · Low 9.6°C · 108 mm rain
- Kalamazoo in MayUnited States · 75 kmHigh 20.0°C · Low 10.0°C · 111 mm rain
- Lansing in MayUnited States · 94 kmHigh 20.0°C · Low 9.8°C · 101 mm rain
- South Bend in MayUnited States · 150 kmHigh 20.7°C · Low 10.5°C · 114 mm rain
- Flint in MayUnited States · 161 kmHigh 19.8°C · Low 9.5°C · 92 mm rain
- Racine in MayUnited States · 174 kmHigh 13.8°C · Low 9.6°C · 90 mm rain
- Ann Arbor in MayUnited States · 175 kmHigh 19.8°C · Low 9.7°C · 99 mm rain
- Kenosha in MayUnited States · 181 kmHigh 13.9°C · Low 9.7°C · 96 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 Grand Rapids) is explained once on the Grand Rapids year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Wyoming lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.