Climate averages 1991–2020
Norfolk weather
in May.
A warm, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 7th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Norfolk: daytime highs average 24.0°C and nights cool to about 14.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 95 mm of rain on roughly 11 days, which makes May a wet month (the 7th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 07 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Portsmouth Heights (8 km away). In May its highs average 24.5°C, about as warm as Norfolk, with 95 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Norfolk ranks joint 232nd of 498 for the warmest May highs and joint 330th of 498 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 498 cities is 23.8°C; Norfolk is 0.2°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 4.1°C to 28.1°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 95 mm to 103 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly rainfall
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
Norfolk climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.2°C1.0°C | 1.0°C | 87 | 9.0 | 9.910 h |
| February | 10.8°C1.7°C | 1.7°C | 77 | 9.0 | 10.811 h |
| March | 14.4°C4.9°C | 4.9°C | 98 | 10.4 | 11.912 h |
| April | 19.8°C9.9°C | 9.9°C | 84 | 9.7 | 13.113 h |
| May, selected | 24.0°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 95 | 10.9 | 14.114 h |
| June | 28.1°C19.7°C | 19.7°C | 103 | 11.7 | 14.615 h |
| July | 30.3°C22.4°C | 22.4°C | 131 | 15.1 | 14.414 h |
| August | 29.2°C21.7°C | 21.7°C | 119 | 12.9 | 13.614 h |
| September | 26.1°C19.1°C | 19.1°C | 120 | 11.1 | 12.512 h |
| October | 21.1°C13.2°C | 13.2°C | 94 | 7.9 | 11.311 h |
| November | 15.4°C7.3°C | 7.3°C | 87 | 8.5 | 10.210 h |
| December | 11.3°C3.3°C | 3.3°C | 87 | 9.2 | 9.710 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
- Portsmouth Heights in MayUnited States · 8 kmHigh 24.5°C · Low 14.9°C · 95 mm rain
- Newport News in MayUnited States · 20 kmHigh 24.2°C · Low 15.0°C · 94 mm rain
- East Hampton in MayUnited States · 22 kmHigh 23.4°C · Low 15.3°C · 90 mm rain
- Virginia Beach in MayUnited States · 27 kmHigh 21.9°C · Low 15.8°C · 89 mm rain
- Suffolk in MayUnited States · 30 kmHigh 24.8°C · Low 15.0°C · 97 mm rain
- Richmond in MayUnited States · 130 kmHigh 24.4°C · Low 14.1°C · 82 mm rain
- Greenville in MayUnited States · 168 kmHigh 25.7°C · Low 15.7°C · 94 mm rain
- Alexandria, United States in MayUnited States · 228 kmHigh 23.5°C · Low 13.6°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 Norfolk) is explained once on the Norfolk year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Portsmouth Heights lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.