Climate averages 1991–2020

Knoxville weather
in May.

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

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

Average high 24.1°C Daytime mean, May

Average low 13.8°C Night-time mean, May

Rainfall 94 mm 12 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 14 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

May is a warm month in Knoxville: daytime highs average 24.1°C and nights cool to about 13.8°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.

Expect about 94 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes May a wet month (the 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 03 min on an average May day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Asheville (130 km away). In May its highs average 22.3°C, 1.8°C cooler than Knoxville, with 90 mm of rain.

Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Knoxville ranks joint 228th of 498 for the warmest May highs and joint 323rd of 498 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 498 cities is 23.8°C; Knoxville is 0.3°C warmer than that mean.

From May to June, average highs rise by 4.2°C to 28.3°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 94 mm to 93 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

Knoxville climate table

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Knoxville, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Rainfall mm/month	Rain days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January	8.3°C-0.6°C	-0.6°C	111	10.7	10.010 h
February	10.6°C0.8°C	0.8°C	110	10.9	10.911 h
March	15.0°C4.2°C	4.2°C	123	12.2	11.912 h
April	20.0°C8.8°C	8.8°C	109	10.9	13.113 h
May, selected	24.1°C13.8°C	13.8°C	94	11.7	14.014 h
June	28.3°C18.3°C	18.3°C	93	13.2	14.615 h
July	29.8°C20.5°C	20.5°C	119	14.8	14.314 h
August	29.4°C19.9°C	19.9°C	86	11.4	13.514 h
September	26.7°C16.8°C	16.8°C	90	8.3	12.412 h
October	20.9°C10.5°C	10.5°C	74	7.7	11.311 h
November	14.6°C4.5°C	4.5°C	96	8.9	10.310 h
December	9.9°C1.2°C	1.2°C	117	10.6	9.810 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 Knoxville

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