Picton weather in May

In May, Picton sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 75 mm of rain across 8.5 wet days and about 9.7 hours of daylight. It is the 8th-warmest and 7th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 15°C in the first days to 13°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 10 h 12 min at the start of May to 9 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Picton's 3rd-clearest and 11th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Picton's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 8th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 75 mm; 8.5 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 42 min; 8:29 AM – 6:11 PM
Cloud cover: 51%; 3rd clearest
Wind: 16 km/h; 11th windiest
Solar energy: 2.27 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.5; out of 10

Picton is town in New Zealand.

Density: 144/km²; people per km²

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

← April Picton 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 ease over the month, from about 15°C in the first days to 13°C by the end.

A typical May day in Picton reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 6°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 12°C and 17°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 2°C cooler than April and about 2°C warmer 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)	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13
Avg low (°C)	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7

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

Picton weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 8th-warmest and 7th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	20° / 14°	60	7.4	14.6	6.8
Feb	20° / 14°	52	5.7	13.7	7.1
Mar	19° / 13°	58	7.1	12.3	6.7
Apr	17° / 11°	78	8.2	10.9	5.6
May	14° / 9°	75	8.5	9.7	4.5
Jun	12° / 7°	91	9.7	9.1	3.3
Jul	11° / 6°	83	10.1	9.3	2.9
Aug	12° / 6°	79	10.8	10.3	3.2
Sep	14° / 8°	77	10.1	11.7	3.9
Oct	15° / 9°	89	11.3	13.1	4.5
Nov	17° / 11°	73	9.5	14.3	5.5
Dec	19° / 13°	75	10.4	14.9	6.0

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 19% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 42%.

	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 (%)	55	55	56	56	56	57	57	57	58	58	59	59	59	59	59	58	58	58	58	59	59	59	59	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	58
Cloudier (%)	45	45	44	44	44	43	43	43	42	42	41	41	41	41	41	42	42	42	42	41	41	41	41	42	42	42	42	42	42	42	42

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

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Picton gets around 75 mm of rain over 8.5 wet days in May. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 28% and peaks near 29% on the wettest days.

	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 (%)	27	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	29	29	29

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

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 94% 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 (%)	87	88	88	89	89	90	90	91	91	92	92	93	94	94	95	95	95	96	96	96	97	97	97	97	98	98	98	98	98	98	98
Comfortable (%)	13	12	12	11	11	10	10	9	9	8	8	7	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	89	11
5	89	11
6	90	10
7	90	10
8	91	9
9	91	9
10	92	8
11	92	8
12	93	7
13	94	6
14	94	6
15	95	5
16	95	5
17	95	5
18	96	4
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

Wind in May

Winds average 16 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 16 km/h on the calmest days to 16 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)	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
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	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	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 12 min at the start of May to 9 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 54 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 8:14 AM to 8:43 AM, and sunset from 6:29 PM to 6:00 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)	10.2	10.2	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.0	10.0	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.4	9.4	9.4	9.4	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3
Sunrise (AM)	8:14	8:15	8:16	8:17	8:18	8:19	8:20	8:21	8:22	8:23	8:24	8:25	8:26	8:27	8:28	8:29	8:30	8:31	8:32	8:33	8:34	8:35	8:36	8:37	8:38	8:39	8:40	8:41	8:42	8:42	8:43
Sunset (PM)	6:29	6:27	6:26	6:25	6:23	6:22	6:21	6:20	6:19	6:17	6:16	6:15	6:14	6:13	6:12	6:11	6:10	6:09	6:08	6:07	6:06	6:06	6:05	6:04	6:03	6:03	6:02	6:01	6:01	6:00	6:00

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.2	8:14	6:29
2	10.2	8:15	6:27
3	10.2	8:16	6:26
4	10.1	8:17	6:25
5	10.1	8:18	6:23
6	10.1	8:19	6:22
7	10.0	8:20	6:21
8	10.0	8:21	6:20
9	9.9	8:22	6:19
10	9.9	8:23	6:17
11	9.9	8:24	6:16
12	9.8	8:25	6:15
13	9.8	8:26	6:14
14	9.8	8:27	6:13
15	9.7	8:28	6:12
16	9.7	8:29	6:11
17	9.7	8:30	6:10
18	9.6	8:31	6:09
19	9.6	8:32	6:08
20	9.6	8:33	6:07
21	9.5	8:34	6:06
22	9.5	8:35	6:06
23	9.5	8:36	6:05
24	9.4	8:37	6:04
25	9.4	8:38	6:03
26	9.4	8:39	6:03
27	9.4	8:40	6:02
28	9.3	8:41	6:01
29	9.3	8:42	6:01
30	9.3	8:42	6:00
31	9.3	8:43	6:00

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 2.27 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.7 kWh/m² to a high of 7.55 kWh/m² in January across the year — May's 2.27 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	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)	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.9	1.9	1.9
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.7	Moderate
2	2.7	Moderate
3	2.6	Moderate
4	2.6	Moderate
5	2.6	Moderate
6	2.5	Moderate
7	2.5	Moderate
8	2.5	Moderate
9	2.5	Moderate
10	2.4	Moderate
11	2.4	Moderate
12	2.4	Moderate
13	2.3	Moderate
14	2.3	Moderate
15	2.3	Moderate
16	2.3	Moderate
17	2.2	Moderate
18	2.2	Moderate
19	2.2	Moderate
20	2.1	Moderate
21	2.1	Moderate
22	2.1	Moderate
23	2.1	Moderate
24	2.0	Moderate
25	2.0	Moderate
26	2.0	Moderate
27	2.0	Dim
28	2.0	Dim
29	1.9	Dim
30	1.9	Dim
31	1.9	Dim

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Picton?

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

4.5

Sightseeing

7th-best month of the year

0.1

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Picton for sightseeing.

What to pack for Picton in May

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

In May, Picton sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 9°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

Sea temperature near Picton in May

The nearest coast averages about 14°C in May — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 14 km away) is warmest in February at about 17°C and coldest in August near 12°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)	16	17	16	15	14	13	12	12	12	13	14	15
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	16	Cool
Feb	17	Cool
Mar	16	Cool
Apr	15	Cool
May	14	Bracing
Jun	13	Bracing
Jul	12	Bracing
Aug	12	Bracing
Sep	12	Bracing
Oct	13	Bracing
Nov	14	Bracing
Dec	15	Bracing

UV index in Picton in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 2. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Picton peaks around January 1 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 17 at about 1 (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)	11	10	6	4	2	1	2	3	4	6	9	11
Level	Extreme	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	10	Extreme
Mar	6	High
Apr	4	Moderate
May	2	Low
Jun	1	Low
Jul	2	Low
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	6	High
Nov	9	Very high
Dec	11	Extreme

Location & terrain

Where is Picton?

Picton sits at 41.3°S, 174.0°E, 0 m above sea level, in New Zealand. The nearest listed city is Blenheim, 25 km away.

Topography around Picton

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Picton has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 675 m around an average of 157 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,051 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,066 m.

The land around Picton is covered by trees (79%) within 3 km, trees (60%) and water (31%) within 16 km, and water (57%) and trees (25%) within 80 km.

3 km

675 m

trees 79%

16 km

1,051 m

trees 60%

80 km

2,066 m

water 57%

treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswater

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

May weather nearby: Blenheim 25 km · Nelson 61 km · Karori 61 km · Wellington 64 km · Stoke 65 km · Richmond 69 km · Porirua 73 km · Lower Hutt 76 km

New Zealand travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type I; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 86% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $49,591; 2025
Happiness: 7.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 100%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.5; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 9.6; 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 Picton (-41.2907°, 174.008°, 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. 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	16	10
2	16	10
3	15	10
4	15	10
5	15	10
6	15	10
7	15	9
8	15	9
9	15	9
10	15	9
11	15	9
12	15	9
13	15	9
14	15	9
15	15	9
16	14	9
17	14	9
18	14	9
19	14	9
20	14	8
21	14	8
22	14	8
23	14	8
24	14	8
25	14	8
26	13	8
27	13	8
28	13	8
29	13	8
30	13	8
31	13	7

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	89	11
5	89	11
6	90	10
7	90	10
8	91	9
9	91	9
10	92	8
11	92	8
12	93	7
13	94	6
14	94	6
15	95	5
16	95	5
17	95	5
18	96	4
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

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

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	89	11
5	89	11
6	90	10
7	90	10
8	91	9
9	91	9
10	92	8
11	92	8
12	93	7
13	94	6
14	94	6
15	95	5
16	95	5
17	95	5
18	96	4
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2

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

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

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

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	87	13
2	88	12
3	88	12
4	89	11
5	89	11
6	90	10
7	90	10
8	91	9
9	91	9
10	92	8
11	92	8
12	93	7
13	94	6
14	94	6
15	95	5
16	95	5
17	95	5
18	96	4
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	97	3
24	97	3
25	98	2
26	98	2
27	98	2
28	98	2
29	98	2
30	98	2
31	98	2