Climate averages 1991–2020
Washington weather
in May.
A warm, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 9th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Washington: daytime highs average 23.7°C and nights cool to about 13.3°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 9th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 16 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Arlington (Virginia), United States (6 km away). In May its highs average 23.1°C, 0.6°C cooler than Washington, with 95 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Washington ranks joint 245th 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; Washington is 0.1°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 4.9°C to 28.5°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 95 mm to 90 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
Washington climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.0°C-2.3°C | -2.3°C | 78 | 8.6 | 9.810 h |
| February | 7.9°C-1.7°C | -1.7°C | 74 | 8.5 | 10.711 h |
| March | 12.5°C2.0°C | 2.0°C | 99 | 10.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 18.8°C7.7°C | 7.7°C | 86 | 10.1 | 13.213 h |
| May, selected | 23.7°C13.3°C | 13.3°C | 95 | 11.0 | 14.314 h |
| June | 28.5°C18.5°C | 18.5°C | 90 | 11.2 | 14.815 h |
| July | 31.1°C21.4°C | 21.4°C | 103 | 12.1 | 14.615 h |
| August | 29.8°C20.6°C | 20.6°C | 89 | 10.1 | 13.714 h |
| September | 26.0°C17.0°C | 17.0°C | 110 | 9.2 | 12.512 h |
| October | 19.7°C10.4°C | 10.4°C | 86 | 7.8 | 11.211 h |
| November | 13.4°C4.5°C | 4.5°C | 74 | 7.5 | 10.110 h |
| December | 8.2°C0.1°C | 0.1°C | 90 | 8.8 | 9.59 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
- Arlington (Virginia), United States in MayUnited States · 6 kmHigh 23.1°C · Low 12.9°C · 95 mm rain
- Alexandria, United States in MayUnited States · 10 kmHigh 23.5°C · Low 13.6°C · 91 mm rain
- Silver Spring in MayUnited States · 11 kmHigh 22.9°C · Low 12.9°C · 95 mm rain
- Centreville in MayUnited States · 35 kmHigh 23.0°C · Low 13.3°C · 95 mm rain
- Germantown in MayUnited States · 37 kmHigh 22.6°C · Low 12.5°C · 97 mm rain
- Columbia (Maryland), United States in MayUnited States · 42 kmHigh 22.1°C · Low 12.9°C · 97 mm rain
- Baltimore in MayUnited States · 57 kmHigh 22.2°C · Low 12.7°C · 96 mm rain
- Richmond in MayUnited States · 154 kmHigh 24.4°C · Low 14.1°C · 82 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 Washington) is explained once on the Washington year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Arlington (Virginia), United States and Silver Spring lie in the same rainfall cell, so their rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.