Whitehorse weather in May

In May, Whitehorse sees average daytime highs of 12°C and overnight lows near 1°C, with 25 mm of precipitation across 6.9 wet days and about 16.9 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 8th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 9°C in the first days to 15°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 14% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 15 h 42 min at the start of May to 18 hours by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Whitehorse's 4th-clearest and 2nd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Whitehorse's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 12°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 1°; 8th coldest
Precipitation: 25 mm; 6.9 wet days
Daylight: 17 hours; 4:28 AM – 9:25 PM
Cloud cover: 70%; 4th clearest
Wind: 8 km/h; 2nd windiest
Solar energy: 5.89 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.5; out of 10

Whitehorse is capital city of the territory of Yukon, Canada.

Air quality: Excellent; PM2.5 3 µg/m³ · 2018
Density: 68/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1898

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

← April Whitehorse 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 9°C in the first days to 15°C by the end.

A typical May day in Whitehorse reaches about 12°C in the afternoon and slips back to 1°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 8°C and 18°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 7°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)	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	15	15	15
Avg low (°C)	-2	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4

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

How May really feels in Whitehorse

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 23 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.

Whitehorse weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 4th-warmest and 8th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	-14° / -20°	25	7.3	8.7	6.2	0.0
Feb	-9° / -18°	16	5	6.7	8.5	0.0
Mar	-3° / -14°	15	4.7	6.5	11.3	0.0
Apr	5° / -5°	14	4.1	4	14.2	0.6
May	12° / 1°	25	6.9	1.8	16.9	3.5
Jun	17° / 6°	44	10.3	0.2	18.6	5.3
Jul	19° / 8°	53	11.1	0	17.9	5.7
Aug	17° / 7°	53	11.1	0.2	15.5	4.9
Sep	11° / 2°	49	11.2	2.4	12.6	2.3
Oct	2° / -4°	41	10.4	9.3	9.7	0.1
Nov	-8° / -13°	27	7.8	9.7	7	0.0
Dec	-12° / -18°	28	7.3	9.5	5.4	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 14% 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 68%.

	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 (%)	33	33	31	31	31	31	31	30	30	30	30	31	31	32	32	32	33	34	34	34	34	34	33	33	33	32	32	30	30	29	28
Cloudier (%)	67	67	69	69	69	69	69	70	70	70	70	69	69	68	68	68	67	66	66	66	66	66	67	67	67	68	68	70	70	71	72

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	31	69
7	31	69
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	31	69
13	31	69
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	32	68
17	33	67
18	34	66
19	34	66
20	34	66
21	34	66
22	34	66
23	33	67
24	33	67
25	33	67
26	32	68
27	32	68
28	30	70
29	30	70
30	29	71
31	28	72

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitationSnow

Whitehorse gets around 25 mm of rain and snow over 6.9 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 23% and peaks near 28% on the wettest days, and about 2 days bring 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 (%)	16	16	16	17	18	18	19	20	21	21	22	23	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	25	25	25	25	26	27	27	28
Snow chance (%)	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1

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

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 8 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 8 km/h on the calmest days to 8 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)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
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	8	calm
2	8	calm
3	8	calm
4	8	calm
5	8	calm
6	8	calm
7	8	calm
8	8	calm
9	8	calm
10	8	calm
11	8	calm
12	8	calm
13	8	calm
14	8	calm
15	8	calm
16	8	calm
17	8	calm
18	8	calm
19	8	calm
20	8	calm
21	8	calm
22	8	calm
23	8	calm
24	8	calm
25	8	calm
26	8	calm
27	8	calm
28	8	calm
29	8	calm
30	8	calm
31	8	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

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

Days grow by about 138 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:08 AM to 3:57 AM, and sunset from 8:47 PM to 9:58 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)	15.7	15.8	15.8	15.9	16.0	16.1	16.2	16.3	16.4	16.5	16.5	16.6	16.7	16.8	16.9	17.0	17.0	17.1	17.2	17.3	17.3	17.4	17.5	17.6	17.6	17.7	17.8	17.8	17.9	18.0	18.0
Sunrise (AM)	5:08	5:05	5:02	4:59	4:56	4:54	4:51	4:48	4:45	4:43	4:40	4:38	4:35	4:33	4:30	4:28	4:25	4:23	4:21	4:18	4:16	4:14	4:12	4:10	4:08	4:06	4:04	4:02	4:00	3:58	3:57
Sunset (PM)	8:47	8:50	8:52	8:55	8:58	9:00	9:03	9:05	9:08	9:10	9:13	9:15	9:18	9:20	9:23	9:25	9:28	9:30	9:32	9:35	9:37	9:39	9:42	9:44	9:46	9:48	9:50	9:52	9:55	9:57	9:58

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	15.7	5:08	8:47
2	15.8	5:05	8:50
3	15.8	5:02	8:52
4	15.9	4:59	8:55
5	16.0	4:56	8:58
6	16.1	4:54	9:00
7	16.2	4:51	9:03
8	16.3	4:48	9:05
9	16.4	4:45	9:08
10	16.5	4:43	9:10
11	16.5	4:40	9:13
12	16.6	4:38	9:15
13	16.7	4:35	9:18
14	16.8	4:33	9:20
15	16.9	4:30	9:23
16	17.0	4:28	9:25
17	17.0	4:25	9:28
18	17.1	4:23	9:30
19	17.2	4:21	9:32
20	17.3	4:18	9:35
21	17.3	4:16	9:37
22	17.4	4:14	9:39
23	17.5	4:12	9:42
24	17.6	4:10	9:44
25	17.6	4:08	9:46
26	17.7	4:06	9:48
27	17.8	4:04	9:50
28	17.8	4:02	9:52
29	17.9	4:00	9:55
30	18.0	3:58	9:57
31	18.0	3:57	9:58

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.89 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.21 kWh/m² to a high of 6.06 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 5.89 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)	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

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

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Whitehorse?

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

3.5

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

May is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Whitehorse.

What to pack for Whitehorse in May

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

In May, Whitehorse sees daytime highs around 12°C and nights near 1°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and sun protection. About 7 days see rain.

a warm layersun protection

UV index in Whitehorse in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 4 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Whitehorse peaks around July 15 at about 6 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. 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	1	2	3	4	5	6	4	3	1	0	0
Level	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	0	Low
Feb	1	Low
Mar	2	Low
Apr	3	Moderate
May	4	Moderate
Jun	5	Moderate
Jul	6	High
Aug	4	Moderate
Sep	3	Moderate
Oct	1	Low
Nov	0	Low
Dec	0	Low

Location & terrain

Where is Whitehorse?

Whitehorse sits at 60.7°N, 135.1°W, 707 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Juneau, 271 km away.

Topography around Whitehorse

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Whitehorse has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 181 m around an average of 688 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,175 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,734 m.

The land around Whitehorse is covered by trees (62%) within 3 km, trees (80%) within 16 km, and trees (65%) within 80 km.

3 km

181 m

trees 62%

16 km

1,175 m

trees 80%

80 km

1,734 m

trees 65%

treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermoss and lichen

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

May weather nearby: Juneau 271 km · Dawson City 435 km · Badger 779 km · Eagle River 783 km · Fairbanks 788 km · Terrace 788 km · Anchorage 801 km · Fort St. John 960 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 Whitehorse (60.7161°, -135.0538°, elevation 707 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. 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	9	-2
2	9	-1
3	9	-1
4	10	-1
5	10	-1
6	10	-1
7	10	-1
8	11	0
9	11	0
10	11	0
11	11	0
12	11	0
13	12	0
14	12	1
15	12	1
16	13	1
17	13	1
18	13	1
19	13	2
20	13	2
21	14	2
22	14	2
23	14	2
24	14	3
25	14	3
26	15	3
27	15	3
28	15	3
29	15	3
30	15	4
31	15	4

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	31	69
7	31	69
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	31	69
13	31	69
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	32	68
17	33	67
18	34	66
19	34	66
20	34	66
21	34	66
22	34	66
23	33	67
24	33	67
25	33	67
26	32	68
27	32	68
28	30	70
29	30	70
30	29	71
31	28	72

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	31	69
7	31	69
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	31	69
13	31	69
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	32	68
17	33	67
18	34	66
19	34	66
20	34	66
21	34	66
22	34	66
23	33	67
24	33	67
25	33	67
26	32	68
27	32	68
28	30	70
29	30	70
30	29	71
31	28	72

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	31	69
4	31	69
5	31	69
6	31	69
7	31	69
8	30	70
9	30	70
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	31	69
13	31	69
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	32	68
17	33	67
18	34	66
19	34	66
20	34	66
21	34	66
22	34	66
23	33	67
24	33	67
25	33	67
26	32	68
27	32	68
28	30	70
29	30	70
30	29	71
31	28	72

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

	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