Kiruna weather in May

In May, Kiruna sees average daytime highs of 8°C and overnight lows near 0°C, with 55 mm of precipitation across 9.9 wet days and about 19.6 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 5th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 5°C in the first days to 11°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 15% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 17 h 18 min at the start of May to 22 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Kiruna's 3rd-clearest and 10th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Kiruna's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 8°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 0°; 8th coldest
Precipitation: 55 mm; 9.9 wet days
Daylight: 19 h 30 min; 1:50 AM – 9:21 PM
Cloud cover: 72%; 3rd clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 10th windiest
Solar energy: 4.96 kWh/m²
Travel score: 1.3; out of 10

Kiruna is urban area in Kiruna Municipality, Sweden.

Air quality: Excellent; PM2.5 3 µg/m³ · 2019
Founded: 1900

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

← April Kiruna 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 5°C in the first days to 11°C by the end.

A typical May day in Kiruna reaches about 8°C in the afternoon and slips back to 0°C overnight — a 8°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 3°C and 14°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 6°C warmer than April and about 6°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)	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	12
Avg low (°C)	-3	-2	-2	-2	-2	-2	-2	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3

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

How May really feels in Kiruna

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 29 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.

Kiruna weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 5th-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	-9° / -15°	31	7.8	9.7	2.1	0.0
Feb	-8° / -15°	26	7.4	8.9	7	0.0
Mar	-3° / -11°	24	7	8.9	11	0.0
Apr	2° / -6°	28	6.9	7.1	15.1	0.0
May	8° / 0°	55	9.9	5.1	19.6	1.3
Jun	14° / 6°	80	13	0.3	23.9	3.5
Jul	17° / 9°	111	15	0	22.1	4.7
Aug	15° / 7°	80	13.6	0	17	4.0
Sep	10° / 3°	64	10.8	1.5	12.8	1.9
Oct	2° / -3°	48	9.7	6.8	8.7	0.0
Nov	-4° / -9°	39	9.3	10	4.2	0.0
Dec	-6° / -13°	36	9.4	10.6	0.1	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 15% 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 71%.

	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	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	28	27	27	28	28	28	28	28	29	28	28	28	28	28	27
Cloudier (%)	67	67	68	68	68	68	69	69	69	70	70	71	71	71	71	71	72	73	73	72	72	72	72	72	71	72	72	72	72	72	73

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	31	69
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	29	71
13	29	71
14	29	71
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	28	72
18	27	73
19	27	73
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	28	72
24	28	72
25	29	71
26	28	72
27	28	72
28	28	72
29	28	72
30	28	72
31	27	73

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitationSnow

Kiruna gets around 55 mm of rain and snow over 9.9 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 32% and peaks near 37% on the wettest days, and about 5 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 (%)	27	27	27	28	28	28	28	29	29	29	30	30	30	31	31	32	32	33	33	34	34	35	35	36	36	36	36	36	37	37	37
Snow chance (%)	22	22	23	23	22	22	22	22	21	20	20	19	18	17	16	15	15	14	13	13	12	12	11	11	10	9	9	8	7	7	6

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

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 10 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 10 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)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	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	10	calm
2	10	calm
3	10	calm
4	10	calm
5	10	calm
6	10	calm
7	10	calm
8	10	calm
9	10	calm
10	10	calm
11	10	calm
12	10	calm
13	10	calm
14	10	calm
15	10	calm
16	10	calm
17	10	calm
18	10	calm
19	10	calm
20	10	calm
21	10	calm
22	10	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 17 h 18 min at the start of May to 22 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 306 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 2:58 AM to 12:25 AM, and sunset from 8:14 PM to 10:48 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)	17.3	17.4	17.6	17.7	17.8	18.0	18.1	18.3	18.4	18.6	18.7	18.9	19.0	19.2	19.4	19.5	19.7	19.8	20.0	20.2	20.3	20.5	20.7	20.9	21.1	21.3	21.5	21.7	21.9	22.1	22.4
Sunrise (AM)	2:58	2:54	2:50	2:45	2:41	2:36	2:32	2:27	2:22	2:18	2:13	2:09	2:04	1:59	1:55	1:50	1:45	1:40	1:35	1:30	1:25	1:20	1:15	1:09	1:04	12:58	12:52	12:46	12:39	12:32	12:25
Sunset (PM)	8:14	8:18	8:23	8:27	8:31	8:35	8:40	8:44	8:49	8:53	8:58	9:02	9:07	9:11	9:16	9:21	9:26	9:31	9:36	9:41	9:46	9:51	9:57	10:02	10:08	10:14	10:20	10:26	10:33	10:40	10:48

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	17.3	2:58	8:14
2	17.4	2:54	8:18
3	17.6	2:50	8:23
4	17.7	2:45	8:27
5	17.8	2:41	8:31
6	18.0	2:36	8:35
7	18.1	2:32	8:40
8	18.3	2:27	8:44
9	18.4	2:22	8:49
10	18.6	2:18	8:53
11	18.7	2:13	8:58
12	18.9	2:09	9:02
13	19.0	2:04	9:07
14	19.2	1:59	9:11
15	19.4	1:55	9:16
16	19.5	1:50	9:21
17	19.7	1:45	9:26
18	19.8	1:40	9:31
19	20.0	1:35	9:36
20	20.2	1:30	9:41
21	20.3	1:25	9:46
22	20.5	1:20	9:51
23	20.7	1:15	9:57
24	20.9	1:09	10:02
25	21.1	1:04	10:08
26	21.3	12:58	10:14
27	21.5	12:52	10:20
28	21.7	12:46	10:26
29	21.9	12:39	10:33
30	22.1	12:32	10:40
31	22.4	12:25	10:48

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 4.96 kWh/m² — the sunniest month for solar.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0 kWh/m² to a high of 4.96 kWh/m² in May across the year — May's 4.96 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)	4.5	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2
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	4.5	Bright
2	4.5	Bright
3	4.6	Bright
4	4.6	Bright
5	4.6	Bright
6	4.7	Bright
7	4.7	Bright
8	4.8	Bright
9	4.8	Bright
10	4.8	Bright
11	4.8	Bright
12	4.9	Bright
13	4.9	Bright
14	4.9	Bright
15	4.9	Bright
16	5.0	Bright
17	5.0	Bright
18	5.0	Bright
19	5.0	Bright
20	5.0	Bright
21	5.1	Bright
22	5.1	Bright
23	5.1	Bright
24	5.1	Bright
25	5.1	Bright
26	5.2	Bright
27	5.2	Bright
28	5.2	Bright
29	5.2	Bright
30	5.2	Bright
31	5.2	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Hazard calendar for Kiruna

In seasonPeak

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

Kiruna's rainy season runs May–September, 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 Kiruna?

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

1.3

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

—

Beach & pool

never really warm enough

May is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Kiruna.

What to pack for Kiruna in May

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

In May, Kiruna sees daytime highs around 8°C and nights near 0°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 10 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gearsun protection

UV index in Kiruna 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 Kiruna peaks around July 14 at about 4 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near January 1 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	4	4	3	1	1	0	0
Level	Low	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low

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

Location & terrain

Where is Kiruna?

Kiruna sits at 67.9°N, 20.2°E, 579 m above sea level, in Sweden. The nearest listed city is Harstad, 184 km away.

Topography around Kiruna

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Kiruna has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 322 m around an average of 523 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 470 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,846 m.

The land around Kiruna is covered by trees (41%) within 3 km, trees (50%) and grassland (34%) within 16 km, and trees (40%) and grassland (37%) within 80 km.

3 km

322 m

trees 41%

16 km

470 m

trees 50%

80 km

1,846 m

trees 40%

treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewaterwetlandmoss and lichen

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

May weather nearby: Harstad 184 km · Levi 192 km · Tromsdalen 205 km · Tromso 206 km · Boden 235 km · Lofoten 239 km · Bodø 256 km · Alta 265 km

Sweden travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type C / F; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 87% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $63,133; 2025
Happiness: 7.3 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 100%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.1; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 3.1; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: Very high; EF EPI 609
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 Kiruna (67.8557°, 20.2251°, elevation 579 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	5	-3
2	5	-2
3	5	-2
4	6	-2
5	6	-2
6	6	-2
7	6	-2
8	6	-1
9	6	-1
10	7	-1
11	7	-1
12	7	-1
13	7	-1
14	8	0
15	8	0
16	8	0
17	8	0
18	8	0
19	9	1
20	9	1
21	9	1
22	9	1
23	10	1
24	10	2
25	10	2
26	10	2
27	11	2
28	11	3
29	11	3
30	11	3
31	12	3

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	31	69
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	29	71
13	29	71
14	29	71
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	28	72
18	27	73
19	27	73
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	28	72
24	28	72
25	29	71
26	28	72
27	28	72
28	28	72
29	28	72
30	28	72
31	27	73

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	31	69
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	29	71
13	29	71
14	29	71
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	28	72
18	27	73
19	27	73
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	28	72
24	28	72
25	29	71
26	28	72
27	28	72
28	28	72
29	28	72
30	28	72
31	27	73

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

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	33	67
2	33	67
3	32	68
4	32	68
5	32	68
6	32	68
7	31	69
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	30	70
11	30	70
12	29	71
13	29	71
14	29	71
15	29	71
16	29	71
17	28	72
18	27	73
19	27	73
20	28	72
21	28	72
22	28	72
23	28	72
24	28	72
25	29	71
26	28	72
27	28	72
28	28	72
29	28	72
30	28	72
31	27	73

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

	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