Dawson City weather in May

In May, Dawson City sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 3°C, with 39 mm of precipitation across 9.6 wet days and about 17.9 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 4th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 11°C in the first days to 17°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 16% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 16 h 18 min at the start of May to 19 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Dawson City's 6th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Dawson City's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 3°; 9th coldest
Precipitation: 39 mm; 9.6 wet days
Daylight: 17 h 54 min; 4:17 AM – 10:11 PM
Cloud cover: 68%; 6th clearest
Wind: 7 km/h; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 5.68 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.0; out of 10

Dawson City is town in Yukon Territory, Canada.

Density: 42/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1896

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← April Dawson City year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 11°C in the first days to 17°C by the end.

A typical May day in Dawson City reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 3°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 9°C and 20°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 9°C warmer than April and about 5°C cooler than June.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	10	10	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17
Avg low (°C)	-1	-1	-1	-1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	10	-1
2	10	-1
3	11	-1
4	11	-1
5	11	0
6	11	0
7	12	0
8	12	0
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	13	1
12	13	1
13	13	2
14	14	2
15	14	2
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	15	3
19	15	3
20	15	4
21	15	4
22	16	4
23	16	4
24	16	5
25	16	5
26	16	5
27	17	5
28	17	5
29	17	6
30	17	6
31	17	6

How May really feels in Dawson City

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 14 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

The story in May is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Dawson City weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 4th-warmest and 4th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	-22° / -28°	10	3.3	4.2	5	0.0
Feb	-16° / -23°	6	2	3.1	7.9	0.0
Mar	-6° / -18°	8	2.7	3.4	11.2	0.0
Apr	5° / -6°	16	4.8	3.7	14.6	0.6
May	14° / 3°	39	9.6	1.3	17.9	4.0
Jun	19° / 8°	63	13.5	0	20.1	5.5
Jul	20° / 10°	72	14.2	0	19.2	5.6
Aug	17° / 7°	53	10.9	0	16.1	5.2
Sep	11° / 1°	37	8.8	1.1	12.7	2.6
Oct	-1° / -8°	26	6.9	6.1	9.3	0.0
Nov	-15° / -21°	16	5.1	6.5	6	0.0
Dec	-19° / -25°	14	4.3	5.4	3.9	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 16% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 18% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 66%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	34	34	33	33	33	33	32	32	34	33	33	34	34	35	35	35	35	36	36	37	37	37	37	37	35	34	34	34	33	33	33
Cloudier (%)	66	66	67	67	67	67	68	68	66	67	67	66	66	65	65	65	65	64	64	63	63	63	63	63	65	66	66	66	67	67	67

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	34	66
2	34	66
3	33	67
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	34	66
10	33	67
11	33	67
12	34	66
13	34	66
14	35	65
15	35	65
16	35	65
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	36	64
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	37	63
23	37	63
24	37	63
25	35	65
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	34	66
29	33	67
30	33	67
31	33	67

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitationSnow

Dawson City gets around 39 mm of rain and snow over 9.6 wet days in May. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 30% and peaks near 37% on the wettest days, and about 1 day brings snow. The odds climb toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	26	27	28	28	28	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	30	30	31	32	32	33	34	35	36	37	37
Snow chance (%)	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	26	9
2	27	8
3	28	8
4	28	8
5	28	8
6	29	8
7	29	8
8	29	7
9	29	7
10	29	7
11	29	6
12	29	6
13	28	6
14	28	5
15	28	5
16	28	5
17	28	4
18	29	4
19	29	3
20	29	3
21	30	2
22	30	2
23	31	1
24	32	1
25	32	1
26	33	1
27	34	0
28	35	0
29	36	0
30	37	0
31	37	0

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of May feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, May lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in May

Winds average 7 km/h in May, the windiest month of the year.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 7 km/h on the calmest days to 7 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	7	calm
2	7	calm
3	7	calm
4	7	calm
5	7	calm
6	7	calm
7	7	calm
8	7	calm
9	7	calm
10	7	calm
11	7	calm
12	7	calm
13	7	calm
14	7	calm
15	7	calm
16	7	calm
17	7	calm
18	7	calm
19	7	calm
20	7	calm
21	7	calm
22	7	calm
23	7	calm
24	7	calm
25	7	calm
26	7	calm
27	7	calm
28	7	calm
29	7	calm
30	7	calm
31	7	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 16 h 18 min at the start of May to 19 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 180 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:06 AM to 3:35 AM, and sunset from 9:23 PM to 10:55 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	16.3	16.4	16.5	16.6	16.7	16.8	16.9	17.0	17.2	17.3	17.4	17.5	17.6	17.7	17.8	17.9	18.0	18.1	18.2	18.3	18.4	18.5	18.6	18.7	18.8	18.9	19.0	19.1	19.1	19.2	19.3
Sunrise (AM)	5:06	5:03	5:00	4:56	4:53	4:50	4:46	4:43	4:40	4:36	4:33	4:30	4:27	4:24	4:20	4:17	4:14	4:11	4:08	4:05	4:02	3:59	3:57	3:54	3:51	3:48	3:46	3:43	3:40	3:38	3:35
Sunset (PM)	9:23	9:27	9:30	9:33	9:36	9:39	9:42	9:46	9:49	9:52	9:55	9:58	10:01	10:04	10:08	10:11	10:14	10:17	10:20	10:23	10:26	10:29	10:32	10:35	10:38	10:41	10:44	10:47	10:49	10:52	10:55

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	16.3	5:06	9:23
2	16.4	5:03	9:27
3	16.5	5:00	9:30
4	16.6	4:56	9:33
5	16.7	4:53	9:36
6	16.8	4:50	9:39
7	16.9	4:46	9:42
8	17.0	4:43	9:46
9	17.2	4:40	9:49
10	17.3	4:36	9:52
11	17.4	4:33	9:55
12	17.5	4:30	9:58
13	17.6	4:27	10:01
14	17.7	4:24	10:04
15	17.8	4:20	10:08
16	17.9	4:17	10:11
17	18.0	4:14	10:14
18	18.1	4:11	10:17
19	18.2	4:08	10:20
20	18.3	4:05	10:23
21	18.4	4:02	10:26
22	18.5	3:59	10:29
23	18.6	3:57	10:32
24	18.7	3:54	10:35
25	18.8	3:51	10:38
26	18.9	3:48	10:41
27	19.0	3:46	10:44
28	19.1	3:43	10:47
29	19.1	3:40	10:49
30	19.2	3:38	10:52
31	19.3	3:35	10:55

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.68 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.07 kWh/m² to a high of 6.23 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 5.68 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.1
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.2	Bright
2	5.2	Bright
3	5.2	Bright
4	5.3	Bright
5	5.3	Bright
6	5.3	Bright
7	5.4	Bright
8	5.4	Bright
9	5.5	Bright
10	5.5	Bright
11	5.5	Bright
12	5.6	Bright
13	5.6	Bright
14	5.7	Bright
15	5.7	Bright
16	5.7	Bright
17	5.8	Bright
18	5.8	Bright
19	5.8	Bright
20	5.8	Bright
21	5.9	Bright
22	5.9	Bright
23	5.9	Bright
24	5.9	Bright
25	6.0	Bright
26	6.0	Bright
27	6.0	Bright
28	6.0	Intense
29	6.0	Intense
30	6.0	Intense
31	6.1	Intense

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Dawson City?

Our two travel scores rate May for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.0

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

0.3

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Dawson City for sightseeing.

What to pack for Dawson City in May

From May's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In May, Dawson City sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 3°C. Worth packing: a warm layer, rain gear and sun protection. About 10 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gearsun protection

UV index in Dawson City in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 3 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Dawson City peaks around June 22 at about 5 (high) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 4 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	0	0	1	2	3	5	5	3	2	1	0	0
Level	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	0	Low
Feb	0	Low
Mar	1	Low
Apr	2	Moderate
May	3	Moderate
Jun	5	High
Jul	5	Moderate
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	2	Low
Oct	1	Low
Nov	0	Low
Dec	0	Low

Air quality in Dawson City in May

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where May falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Dawson City is worst in July — around 38 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 127.7× the cleanest month (January, 0 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	0	1	3	6	16	30	38	34	9	1	0	0
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	0	Good
Feb	1	Good
Mar	3	Good
Apr	6	Good
May	16	Moderate
Jun	30	Moderate
Jul	38	Poor
Aug	34	Moderate
Sep	9	Good
Oct	1	Good
Nov	0	Good
Dec	0	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Dawson City?

Dawson City sits at 64.1°N, 139.4°W, 0 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Badger, 397 km away.

Topography around Dawson City

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Dawson City.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Dawson City has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 562 m around an average of 464 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 892 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,992 m.

The land around Dawson City is covered by trees (77%) within 3 km, trees (93%) within 16 km, and trees (69%) and grassland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km

562 m

trees 77%

16 km

892 m

trees 93%

80 km

1,992 m

trees 69%

treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermoss and lichen

← April Dawson City year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

May weather nearby: Badger 397 km · Fairbanks 406 km · Whitehorse 435 km · Eagle River 599 km · Anchorage 620 km · Juneau 694 km · Terrace 1,223 km · Yellowknife 1,258 km

Canada travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type A / B; 120 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 83% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $55,698; 2025
Happiness: 6.7 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 97%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 2; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 5.3; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Dawson City (64.0601°, -139.4333°, elevation 0 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	10	-1
2	10	-1
3	11	-1
4	11	-1
5	11	0
6	11	0
7	12	0
8	12	0
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	13	1
12	13	1
13	13	2
14	14	2
15	14	2
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	15	3
19	15	3
20	15	4
21	15	4
22	16	4
23	16	4
24	16	5
25	16	5
26	16	5
27	17	5
28	17	5
29	17	6
30	17	6
31	17	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	34	66
2	34	66
3	33	67
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	34	66
10	33	67
11	33	67
12	34	66
13	34	66
14	35	65
15	35	65
16	35	65
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	36	64
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	37	63
23	37	63
24	37	63
25	35	65
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	34	66
29	33	67
30	33	67
31	33	67

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	26	9
2	27	8
3	28	8
4	28	8
5	28	8
6	29	8
7	29	8
8	29	7
9	29	7
10	29	7
11	29	6
12	29	6
13	28	6
14	28	5
15	28	5
16	28	5
17	28	4
18	29	4
19	29	3
20	29	3
21	30	2
22	30	2
23	31	1
24	32	1
25	32	1
26	33	1
27	34	0
28	35	0
29	36	0
30	37	0
31	37	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	10	-1
2	10	-1
3	11	-1
4	11	-1
5	11	0
6	11	0
7	12	0
8	12	0
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	13	1
12	13	1
13	13	2
14	14	2
15	14	2
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	15	3
19	15	3
20	15	4
21	15	4
22	16	4
23	16	4
24	16	5
25	16	5
26	16	5
27	17	5
28	17	5
29	17	6
30	17	6
31	17	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	34	66
2	34	66
3	33	67
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	34	66
10	33	67
11	33	67
12	34	66
13	34	66
14	35	65
15	35	65
16	35	65
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	36	64
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	37	63
23	37	63
24	37	63
25	35	65
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	34	66
29	33	67
30	33	67
31	33	67

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	26	9
2	27	8
3	28	8
4	28	8
5	28	8
6	29	8
7	29	8
8	29	7
9	29	7
10	29	7
11	29	6
12	29	6
13	28	6
14	28	5
15	28	5
16	28	5
17	28	4
18	29	4
19	29	3
20	29	3
21	30	2
22	30	2
23	31	1
24	32	1
25	32	1
26	33	1
27	34	0
28	35	0
29	36	0
30	37	0
31	37	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	10	-1
2	10	-1
3	11	-1
4	11	-1
5	11	0
6	11	0
7	12	0
8	12	0
9	12	1
10	12	1
11	13	1
12	13	1
13	13	2
14	14	2
15	14	2
16	14	3
17	14	3
18	15	3
19	15	3
20	15	4
21	15	4
22	16	4
23	16	4
24	16	5
25	16	5
26	16	5
27	17	5
28	17	5
29	17	6
30	17	6
31	17	6

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	34	66
2	34	66
3	33	67
4	33	67
5	33	67
6	33	67
7	32	68
8	32	68
9	34	66
10	33	67
11	33	67
12	34	66
13	34	66
14	35	65
15	35	65
16	35	65
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	36	64
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	37	63
23	37	63
24	37	63
25	35	65
26	34	66
27	34	66
28	34	66
29	33	67
30	33	67
31	33	67

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	26	9
2	27	8
3	28	8
4	28	8
5	28	8
6	29	8
7	29	8
8	29	7
9	29	7
10	29	7
11	29	6
12	29	6
13	28	6
14	28	5
15	28	5
16	28	5
17	28	4
18	29	4
19	29	3
20	29	3
21	30	2
22	30	2
23	31	1
24	32	1
25	32	1
26	33	1
27	34	0
28	35	0
29	36	0
30	37	0
31	37	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100