Weather in New York City in May

A good month. May works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 17 °C, lows 11.5 °C, and rain falls on 13 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

May ranks 6 of 12 in New York City: past the worst of the year but short of September, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 13 days, 3 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 17 °C days and 11.5 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 5.5 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest May day reached 26.8 °C and the coldest night fell to 2.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 64 mm — roughly 63% of the month's rain in one day.

May is moderately variable: 22 mm in the driest year against 209 mm in the wettest, around an average of 101 mm. Roughly two Mays in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 12.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 84%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How May sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 5 °C warmer than April, and June adds another 5.4 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in May

14.4 hours of daylight, gaining 1 hours across the month. That is between New York City's extremes of 15.1 and 9.3 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 12.3 °C in May — too cold to swim without a wetsuit. The sea peaks at 24.4 °C in August and bottoms out at 6.8 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Busy. Popular without being frantic; book the things you care about, improvise the rest.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

May in New York City versus nearby

If New York City is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Philadelphia is a better bet in May — 5.3 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Boston is a better bet in May — 2.1 °C warmer, 1 day less rain.

So: May works, with September the better month by 16 points if the dates can move. If they cannot, nothing here should stop you booking.

Every month in New York City

See all twelve months in New York City, or where else to go in May.