Tofino weather in May

In May, Tofino sees average daytime highs of 12°C and overnight lows near 8°C, with 117 mm of precipitation across 10.9 wet days and about 15 hours of daylight. It is the 6th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 11°C in the first days to 13°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 14 h 18 min at the start of May to 15 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Tofino's 5th-clearest and 8th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Tofino's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 12°; 6th warmest
Overnight low: 8°; 7th coldest
Precipitation: 117 mm; 10.9 wet days
Daylight: 15 h 06 min; 4:48 AM – 7:52 PM
Cloud cover: 64%; 5th clearest
Wind: 12 km/h; 8th windiest
Solar energy: 5.59 kWh/m²
Travel score: 2.9; out of 10

Tofino is district municipality on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Founded: 1932

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

← April Tofino 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 13°C by the end.

A typical May day in Tofino reaches about 12°C in the afternoon and slips back to 8°C overnight — a 4°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 9°C and 15°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 3°C warmer than April and about 2°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	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9

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

Tofino weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 6th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	7° / 4°	461	20.6	5.5	8.5	0.6
Feb	7° / 4°	279	16.2	5.6	9.8	0.7
Mar	7° / 4°	350	19.4	6.5	11.6	0.8
Apr	9° / 6°	227	15.6	2	13.4	1.6
May	12° / 8°	117	10.9	0.1	15	2.9
Jun	13° / 10°	102	10.5	0	15.9	3.8
Jul	16° / 12°	64	6	0	15.6	5.4
Aug	16° / 13°	88	7.4	0	14.2	5.4
Sep	15° / 12°	170	10.4	0	12.4	4.5
Oct	12° / 9°	369	17.9	0	10.5	2.5
Nov	9° / 6°	512	20.2	2.4	8.9	1.3
Dec	7° / 5°	447	20.6	6.3	8.1	0.6

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 59%.

	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 (%)	42	42	43	43	42	42	42	40	40	40	39	39	38	38	38	38	37	38	38	38	40	40	41	42	42	42	42	43	43	42	43
Cloudier (%)	58	58	57	57	58	58	58	60	60	60	61	61	62	62	62	62	63	62	62	62	60	60	59	58	58	58	58	57	57	58	57

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	43	57
4	43	57
5	42	58
6	42	58
7	42	58
8	40	60
9	40	60
10	40	60
11	39	61
12	39	61
13	38	62
14	38	62
15	38	62
16	38	62
17	37	63
18	38	62
19	38	62
20	38	62
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	42	58
27	42	58
28	43	57
29	43	57
30	42	58
31	43	57

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Tofino gets around 117 mm of rain and snow over 10.9 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 36% and peaks near 41% on the wettest days, and about 0 day brings snow.

	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 (%)	41	40	39	38	37	36	36	35	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	36	36	36	36	36	36	37	37	37	37	36	36

	Rain chance (%)
1	41
2	40
3	39
4	38
5	37
6	36
7	36
8	35
9	34
10	34
11	34
12	34
13	34
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	35
18	35
19	35
20	36
21	36
22	36
23	36
24	36
25	36
26	37
27	37
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	36

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 12 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 12 km/h on the calmest days to 13 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)	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 14 h 18 min at the start of May to 15 h 42 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 84 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:11 AM to 4:31 AM, and sunset from 7:30 PM to 8:11 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)	14.3	14.4	14.4	14.5	14.5	14.6	14.6	14.7	14.7	14.8	14.8	14.9	14.9	15.0	15.0	15.1	15.1	15.2	15.2	15.3	15.3	15.3	15.4	15.4	15.5	15.5	15.5	15.6	15.6	15.6	15.7
Sunrise (AM)	5:11	5:09	5:08	5:06	5:04	5:03	5:01	4:59	4:58	4:56	4:55	4:53	4:52	4:50	4:49	4:48	4:46	4:45	4:44	4:42	4:41	4:40	4:39	4:38	4:37	4:36	4:35	4:34	4:33	4:32	4:31
Sunset (PM)	7:30	7:32	7:33	7:35	7:36	7:38	7:39	7:41	7:42	7:44	7:45	7:47	7:48	7:49	7:51	7:52	7:54	7:55	7:56	7:58	7:59	8:00	8:01	8:03	8:04	8:05	8:06	8:07	8:08	8:10	8:11

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	14.3	5:11	7:30
2	14.4	5:09	7:32
3	14.4	5:08	7:33
4	14.5	5:06	7:35
5	14.5	5:04	7:36
6	14.6	5:03	7:38
7	14.6	5:01	7:39
8	14.7	4:59	7:41
9	14.7	4:58	7:42
10	14.8	4:56	7:44
11	14.8	4:55	7:45
12	14.9	4:53	7:47
13	14.9	4:52	7:48
14	15.0	4:50	7:49
15	15.0	4:49	7:51
16	15.1	4:48	7:52
17	15.1	4:46	7:54
18	15.2	4:45	7:55
19	15.2	4:44	7:56
20	15.3	4:42	7:58
21	15.3	4:41	7:59
22	15.3	4:40	8:00
23	15.4	4:39	8:01
24	15.4	4:38	8:03
25	15.5	4:37	8:04
26	15.5	4:36	8:05
27	15.5	4:35	8:06
28	15.6	4:34	8:07
29	15.6	4:33	8:08
30	15.6	4:32	8:10
31	15.7	4:31	8:11

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.59 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.76 kWh/m² to a high of 6.29 kWh/m² in July across the year — May's 5.59 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)	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8
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	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.1	Bright
2	5.2	Bright
3	5.2	Bright
4	5.3	Bright
5	5.3	Bright
6	5.4	Bright
7	5.4	Bright
8	5.5	Bright
9	5.5	Bright
10	5.5	Bright
11	5.5	Bright
12	5.6	Bright
13	5.6	Bright
14	5.6	Bright
15	5.6	Bright
16	5.6	Bright
17	5.6	Bright
18	5.6	Bright
19	5.7	Bright
20	5.7	Bright
21	5.7	Bright
22	5.7	Bright
23	5.7	Bright
24	5.7	Bright
25	5.7	Bright
26	5.7	Bright
27	5.7	Bright
28	5.8	Bright
29	5.8	Bright
30	5.8	Bright
31	5.8	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Tofino

In seasonPeak

None of Tofino's seasonal hazards are active in May. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Tofino's rainy season runs October–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is May a good time to visit Tofino?

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

2.9

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

—

Beach & pool

never really warm enough

May is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Tofino.

What to pack for Tofino in May

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

In May, Tofino sees daytime highs around 12°C and nights near 8°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 11 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gearsun protection

Sea temperature near Tofino in May

The nearest coast averages about 12°C in May — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 14°C and coldest in February near 9°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	9	9	9	10	12	13	14	14	13	12	10	9
Comfort	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	9	Bracing
Feb	9	Bracing
Mar	9	Bracing
Apr	10	Bracing
May	12	Bracing
Jun	13	Bracing
Jul	14	Bracing
Aug	14	Bracing
Sep	13	Bracing
Oct	12	Bracing
Nov	10	Bracing
Dec	9	Bracing

UV index in Tofino in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Tofino peaks around July 18 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	1	1	3	4	7	6	8	7	4	3	1	1
Level	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	High	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	1	Low
Feb	1	Low
Mar	3	Moderate
Apr	4	Moderate
May	7	High
Jun	6	High
Jul	8	Very high
Aug	7	High
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	3	Moderate
Nov	1	Low
Dec	1	Low

Air quality in Tofino 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 Tofino is worst in August — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 8.3× the cleanest month (December, 2 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)	3	3	5	6	7	6	6	17	8	7	5	2
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	3	Good
Feb	3	Good
Mar	5	Good
Apr	6	Good
May	7	Good
Jun	6	Good
Jul	6	Good
Aug	17	Moderate
Sep	8	Good
Oct	7	Good
Nov	5	Good
Dec	2	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Tofino?

Tofino sits at 49.2°N, 125.9°W, 0 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Port Alberni, 81 km away.

Topography around Tofino

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Tofino has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 152 m around an average of 10 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 986 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,048 m.

The land around Tofino is covered by water (68%) and trees (30%) within 3 km, water (64%) and trees (36%) within 16 km, and trees (54%) and water (41%) within 80 km.

3 km

152 m

water 68%

16 km

986 m

water 64%

80 km

2,048 m

trees 54%

treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Port Alberni 81 km · Courtenay 89 km · Campbell River 107 km · Harewood 143 km · Nanaimo 143 km · North Cowichan 166 km · Duncan 166 km · Sooke 182 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 Tofino (49.1531°, -125.9074°, 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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	7
2	11	7
3	11	7
4	11	7
5	11	7
6	11	7
7	11	7
8	11	7
9	11	7
10	11	8
11	11	8
12	11	8
13	12	8
14	12	8
15	12	8
16	12	8
17	12	8
18	12	8
19	12	8
20	12	8
21	12	9
22	12	9
23	12	9
24	12	9
25	12	9
26	12	9
27	12	9
28	13	9
29	13	9
30	13	9
31	13	9

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	43	57
4	43	57
5	42	58
6	42	58
7	42	58
8	40	60
9	40	60
10	40	60
11	39	61
12	39	61
13	38	62
14	38	62
15	38	62
16	38	62
17	37	63
18	38	62
19	38	62
20	38	62
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	42	58
27	42	58
28	43	57
29	43	57
30	42	58
31	43	57

	Rain chance (%)
1	41
2	40
3	39
4	38
5	37
6	36
7	36
8	35
9	34
10	34
11	34
12	34
13	34
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	35
18	35
19	35
20	36
21	36
22	36
23	36
24	36
25	36
26	37
27	37
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	36

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	43	57
4	43	57
5	42	58
6	42	58
7	42	58
8	40	60
9	40	60
10	40	60
11	39	61
12	39	61
13	38	62
14	38	62
15	38	62
16	38	62
17	37	63
18	38	62
19	38	62
20	38	62
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	42	58
27	42	58
28	43	57
29	43	57
30	42	58
31	43	57

	Rain chance (%)
1	41
2	40
3	39
4	38
5	37
6	36
7	36
8	35
9	34
10	34
11	34
12	34
13	34
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	35
18	35
19	35
20	36
21	36
22	36
23	36
24	36
25	36
26	37
27	37
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	36

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	42	58
2	42	58
3	43	57
4	43	57
5	42	58
6	42	58
7	42	58
8	40	60
9	40	60
10	40	60
11	39	61
12	39	61
13	38	62
14	38	62
15	38	62
16	38	62
17	37	63
18	38	62
19	38	62
20	38	62
21	40	60
22	40	60
23	41	59
24	42	58
25	42	58
26	42	58
27	42	58
28	43	57
29	43	57
30	42	58
31	43	57

	Rain chance (%)
1	41
2	40
3	39
4	38
5	37
6	36
7	36
8	35
9	34
10	34
11	34
12	34
13	34
14	34
15	34
16	34
17	35
18	35
19	35
20	36
21	36
22	36
23	36
24	36
25	36
26	37
27	37
28	37
29	37
30	36
31	36

	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