Datong weather in May

In May, Datong sees average daytime highs of 23°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 39 mm of precipitation across 6 wet days and about 14.2 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 5th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 21°C in the first days to 25°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 39% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 h 42 min at the start of May to 14 h 36 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Datong's 9th-clearest and 3rd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Datong's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 23°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 8th coldest
Precipitation: 39 mm; 6 wet days
Daylight: 14 h 12 min; 5:17 AM – 7:29 PM
Cloud cover: 53%; 9th clearest
Wind: 11 km/h; 3rd windiest
Solar energy: 6.36 kWh/m²
Travel score: 7.4; out of 10

Datong is prefecture-level city in Shanxi, China.

Air quality: Very high; PM2.5 36.6 µg/m³ · 2018
Density: 132/km²; people per km²

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

← April Datong 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 21°C in the first days to 25°C by the end.

A typical May day in Datong reaches about 23°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 14°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 17°C and 29°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 6°C warmer than April and about 4°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)	20	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24	24	25	25	25	25	25	25	26
Avg low (°C)	6	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12

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

How May really feels in Datong

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

May sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Datong weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 4th-warmest and 5th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	-3° / -15°	3	0.9	1.1	9.5	0.0
Feb	2° / -11°	5	1.8	1.8	10.4	0.0
Mar	9° / -4°	14	3.6	2.1	11.7	2.1
Apr	17° / 2°	27	4.7	0.9	13	6.0
May	23° / 9°	39	6	0.1	14.2	7.4
Jun	27° / 15°	59	9.4	0	14.8	6.6
Jul	28° / 18°	96	11.8	0	14.6	5.6
Aug	27° / 16°	88	10.5	0	13.6	6.5
Sep	22° / 10°	67	8.8	0	12.3	6.9
Oct	15° / 3°	32	5.4	0.2	10.9	5.2
Nov	6° / -5°	13	3	1.5	9.8	0.9
Dec	-1° / -12°	3	0.8	1.2	9.2	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 39% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 17% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 44%.

	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 (%)	56	55	54	54	53	53	52	52	52	52	53	53	54	55	56	56	56	57	58	59	59	60	60	60	60	60	59	59	58	58	57
Cloudier (%)	44	45	46	46	47	47	48	48	48	48	47	47	46	45	44	44	44	43	42	41	41	40	40	40	40	40	41	41	42	42	43

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	56	44
2	55	45
3	54	46
4	54	46
5	53	47
6	53	47
7	52	48
8	52	48
9	52	48
10	52	48
11	53	47
12	53	47
13	54	46
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	56	44
18	57	43
19	58	42
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	60	40
24	60	40
25	60	40
26	60	40
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	58	42
30	58	42
31	57	43

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Datong gets around 39 mm of rain and snow over 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 19% and peaks near 22% 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 (%)	18	18	19	19	20	20	21	21	21	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	18	18	18

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

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	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	98
Comfortable (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	98	2

Wind in May

Winds average 11 km/h in May.

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 h 42 min at the start of May to 14 h 36 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 54 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:34 AM to 5:06 AM, and sunset from 7:14 PM to 7:43 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)	13.7	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.2	14.2	14.2	14.3	14.3	14.3	14.4	14.4	14.4	14.4	14.5	14.5	14.5	14.5	14.6	14.6	14.6
Sunrise (AM)	5:34	5:32	5:31	5:30	5:29	5:27	5:26	5:25	5:24	5:23	5:22	5:21	5:20	5:19	5:18	5:17	5:16	5:15	5:14	5:13	5:12	5:12	5:11	5:10	5:09	5:09	5:08	5:08	5:07	5:06	5:06
Sunset (PM)	7:14	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:28	7:29	7:30	7:31	7:32	7:33	7:34	7:35	7:36	7:37	7:38	7:38	7:39	7:40	7:41	7:42	7:43

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.7	5:34	7:14
2	13.7	5:32	7:15
3	13.8	5:31	7:16
4	13.8	5:30	7:17
5	13.8	5:29	7:18
6	13.9	5:27	7:19
7	13.9	5:26	7:20
8	13.9	5:25	7:21
9	14.0	5:24	7:23
10	14.0	5:23	7:24
11	14.0	5:22	7:25
12	14.1	5:21	7:25
13	14.1	5:20	7:26
14	14.1	5:19	7:27
15	14.2	5:18	7:28
16	14.2	5:17	7:29
17	14.2	5:16	7:30
18	14.3	5:15	7:31
19	14.3	5:14	7:32
20	14.3	5:13	7:33
21	14.4	5:12	7:34
22	14.4	5:12	7:35
23	14.4	5:11	7:36
24	14.4	5:10	7:37
25	14.5	5:09	7:38
26	14.5	5:09	7:38
27	14.5	5:08	7:39
28	14.5	5:08	7:40
29	14.6	5:07	7:41
30	14.6	5:06	7:42
31	14.6	5:06	7:43

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 6.36 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.34 kWh/m² to a high of 6.37 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 6.36 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)	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.2	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	6.1	Intense
2	6.1	Intense
3	6.1	Intense
4	6.1	Intense
5	6.1	Intense
6	6.1	Intense
7	6.1	Intense
8	6.1	Intense
9	6.2	Intense
10	6.2	Intense
11	6.2	Intense
12	6.2	Intense
13	6.3	Intense
14	6.3	Intense
15	6.3	Intense
16	6.3	Intense
17	6.4	Intense
18	6.4	Intense
19	6.4	Intense
20	6.5	Intense
21	6.5	Intense
22	6.5	Intense
23	6.5	Intense
24	6.6	Intense
25	6.6	Intense
26	6.6	Intense
27	6.6	Intense
28	6.6	Intense
29	6.6	Intense
30	6.6	Intense
31	6.6	Intense

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Datong

In seasonPeak

In May, Datong sits inside its dust season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Datong sees seasonal dust haze (April–June), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is May a good time to visit Datong?

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

7.4

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

5.6

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

May is one of the better times to visit Datong for general sightseeing.

What to pack for Datong in May

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

In May, Datong sees daytime highs around 23°C and nights near 9°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 6 days see rain.

sun protectionlight clothes

UV index in Datong in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 9 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Datong peaks around May 23 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	2	3	5	7	9	8	8	8	7	4	2	2
Level	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Low
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	7	High
May	9	Very high
Jun	8	Very high
Jul	8	Very high
Aug	8	Very high
Sep	7	High
Oct	4	Moderate
Nov	2	Moderate
Dec	2	Low

Air quality in Datong 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 Datong is worst in March — around 47 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 1.9× the cleanest month (August, 25 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Datong's WHO annual average of 36.6 µg/m³.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	40	40	47	41	36	31	28	25	27	39	47	38
Level	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Poor	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	40	Poor
Feb	40	Poor
Mar	47	Poor
Apr	41	Poor
May	36	Poor
Jun	31	Moderate
Jul	28	Moderate
Aug	25	Moderate
Sep	27	Moderate
Oct	39	Poor
Nov	47	Poor
Dec	38	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Datong?

Datong sits at 40.1°N, 113.3°E, 1,054 m above sea level, in China. The nearest listed city is Beijing, 265 km away.

Topography around Datong

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Datong has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 58 m around an average of 1,055 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 563 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,552 m.

The land around Datong is covered by artificial surfaces (81%) within 3 km, grassland (41%), artificial surfaces (27%) and cropland (24%) within 16 km, and grassland (53%) and cropland (37%) within 80 km.

3 km

58 m

artificial surfaces 81%

16 km

563 m

grassland 41%

80 km

1,552 m

grassland 53%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

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

May weather nearby: Beijing 265 km · Tianjin 349 km · Chengde 406 km · Jinan 499 km · Saynshand 593 km · Zhengzhou 594 km · Luoyang 607 km · Songyang 627 km

China travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type A / I; 220 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 47% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $13,862; 2025
Happiness: 6.1 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate: 0.5; per 100k, 2020
Road deaths: 17.4; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 464
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 Datong (40.0936°, 113.2914°, elevation 1,054 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	20	6
2	21	6
3	21	7
4	21	7
5	21	7
6	21	7
7	21	8
8	21	8
9	22	8
10	22	8
11	22	8
12	22	8
13	22	9
14	22	9
15	23	9
16	23	9
17	23	9
18	23	10
19	23	10
20	24	10
21	24	10
22	24	10
23	24	10
24	24	11
25	25	11
26	25	11
27	25	11
28	25	11
29	25	12
30	25	12
31	26	12

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	56	44
2	55	45
3	54	46
4	54	46
5	53	47
6	53	47
7	52	48
8	52	48
9	52	48
10	52	48
11	53	47
12	53	47
13	54	46
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	56	44
18	57	43
19	58	42
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	60	40
24	60	40
25	60	40
26	60	40
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	58	42
30	58	42
31	57	43

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	98	2

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	56	44
2	55	45
3	54	46
4	54	46
5	53	47
6	53	47
7	52	48
8	52	48
9	52	48
10	52	48
11	53	47
12	53	47
13	54	46
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	56	44
18	57	43
19	58	42
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	60	40
24	60	40
25	60	40
26	60	40
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	58	42
30	58	42
31	57	43

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	98	2

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	56	44
2	55	45
3	54	46
4	54	46
5	53	47
6	53	47
7	52	48
8	52	48
9	52	48
10	52	48
11	53	47
12	53	47
13	54	46
14	55	45
15	56	44
16	56	44
17	56	44
18	57	43
19	58	42
20	59	41
21	59	41
22	60	40
23	60	40
24	60	40
25	60	40
26	60	40
27	59	41
28	59	41
29	58	42
30	58	42
31	57	43

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	100	0
9	100	0
10	100	0
11	100	0
12	100	0
13	100	0
14	100	0
15	100	0
16	100	0
17	100	0
18	100	0
19	100	0
20	100	0
21	100	0
22	100	0
23	99	1
24	99	1
25	99	1
26	99	1
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	98	2