Climate averages 1991–2020
Raleigh weather
in May.
A warm, wet month: the 5th warmest and the joint 4th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Raleigh: daytime highs average 25.7°C and nights cool to about 15.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 90 mm of rain on roughly 10 days, which makes May a wet month (the joint 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 02 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Cary (13 km away). In May its highs average 25.3°C, about as warm as Raleigh, with 90 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Raleigh ranks joint 171st of 498 for the warmest May highs and joint 293rd of 498 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 498 cities is 23.8°C; Raleigh is 1.9°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 3.8°C to 29.5°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 90 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
Raleigh climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.8°C1.0°C | 1.0°C | 93 | 9.3 | 10.010 h |
| February | 11.9°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 81 | 9.1 | 10.911 h |
| March | 16.0°C5.5°C | 5.5°C | 104 | 10.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 21.4°C10.5°C | 10.5°C | 90 | 9.1 | 13.113 h |
| May, selected | 25.7°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 90 | 10.4 | 14.014 h |
| June | 29.5°C20.0°C | 20.0°C | 103 | 12.1 | 14.515 h |
| July | 31.3°C22.3°C | 22.3°C | 116 | 15.2 | 14.314 h |
| August | 30.1°C21.4°C | 21.4°C | 111 | 12.4 | 13.514 h |
| September | 26.9°C18.4°C | 18.4°C | 120 | 10.2 | 12.412 h |
| October | 21.5°C12.3°C | 12.3°C | 79 | 7.2 | 11.311 h |
| November | 15.8°C6.5°C | 6.5°C | 85 | 7.7 | 10.310 h |
| December | 11.5°C2.9°C | 2.9°C | 90 | 9.1 | 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
- Cary in MayUnited States · 13 kmHigh 25.3°C · Low 15.2°C · 90 mm rain
- Durham in MayUnited States · 34 kmHigh 25.4°C · Low 14.7°C · 88 mm rain
- Fayetteville in MayUnited States · 83 kmHigh 26.6°C · Low 16.1°C · 84 mm rain
- Greensboro in MayUnited States · 109 kmHigh 24.9°C · Low 14.1°C · 88 mm rain
- Greenville in MayUnited States · 116 kmHigh 25.7°C · Low 15.7°C · 94 mm rain
- High Point in MayUnited States · 125 kmHigh 24.9°C · Low 14.1°C · 87 mm rain
- Winston-Salem in MayUnited States · 149 kmHigh 24.9°C · Low 14.0°C · 84 mm rain
- Concord (North Carolina), United States in MayUnited States · 180 kmHigh 26.0°C · Low 15.3°C · 80 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 Raleigh) is explained once on the Raleigh year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Cary lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.