Winterthur weather in May

In May, Winterthur sees average daytime highs of 18°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 119 mm of precipitation across 15.2 wet days and about 14.9 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 17°C in the first days to 20°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 22% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 14 h 12 min at the start of May to 15 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Winterthur's 7th-clearest and 6th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Winterthur's year-round climate.

Daytime high
18°
5th warmest
Overnight low
8th coldest
Precipitation
119 mm
15.2 wet days
Daylight
14 h 54 min
4:54 AM – 7:48 PM
Cloud cover
64%
7th clearest
Wind
7 km/h
6th windiest
Solar energy
5.28 kWh/m²
Travel score
5.2
out of 10

Winterthur is city in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland.

Air quality
Good
PM2.5 8.8 µg/m³ · 2020
Density
1,643/km²
people per km²
Founded
~919 CE

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

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 17°C in the first days to 20°C by the end.

A typical May day in Winterthur reaches about 18°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 9°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 12°C and 25°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 4°C warmer than April and about 4°C cooler than June.

10°20°30°151015202531
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
1177
2177
3178
4178
5178
6178
7178
8178
9178
10188
11188
12189
13189
14189
15189
16189
17189
18189
19199
20199
211910
221910
231910
241910
251910
262010
272010
282010
292011
302011
312011

How May really feels in Winterthur

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
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
0
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.

Winterthur weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 5th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / -1°7912.46.28.70.0
Feb / -1°6911.26.29.90.3
Mar10° / 8213.24.511.62.2
Apr14° / 8512.51.913.33.9
May18° / 11915.20.214.95.2
Jun22° / 13°11314.8015.75.9
Jul24° / 14°10613.8015.46.5
Aug23° / 14°10713014.16.6
Sep19° / 11°9111.1012.45.8
Oct14° / 8311.60.410.63.8
Nov / 8712.13.19.11.2
Dec / -0°9313.76.38.30.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 22% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 16% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 62%.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
13565
23565
33565
43565
53565
63466
73466
83466
93565
103664
113664
123664
133763
143862
153862
163961
173961
184159
194159
204159
214258
224258
234357
244357
254357
264258
274258
284258
294258
304258
314159

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitationSnow

Winterthur gets around 119 mm of rain and snow over 15.2 wet days in May, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 50% and peaks near 53% on the wettest days, and about 0 day brings snow.

0%20%40%60%151015202531
Rain chance (%)Snow chance (%)
1502
2512
3522
4522
5532
6531
7531
8531
9531
10531
11531
12521
13521
14521
15521
16511
17501
18501
19491
20480
21470
22460
23460
24450
25450
26450
27450
28450
29460
30460
31470

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 95% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
110000
210000
310000
410000
510000
610000
710000
89910
99910
109910
119910
129910
139910
149910
159820
169820
179730
189730
199640
209550
219460
229370
239280
249190
2590100
2689110
2787130
2885141
2984151
3082171
3181181

Wind in May

Winds average 7 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 7 km/h on the calmest days to 7 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

0246810151015202531
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
17calm
27calm
37calm
47calm
57calm
67calm
77calm
87calm
97calm
107calm
117calm
127calm
137calm
147calm
157calm
167calm
177calm
187calm
197calm
207calm
217calm
227calm
237calm
247calm
257calm
267calm
277calm
287calm
297calm
307calm
317calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 14 h 12 min at the start of May to 15 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 72 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:17 AM to 4:39 AM, and sunset from 7:28 PM to 8:05 PM.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AM151015202531
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
114.25:177:28
214.25:157:29
314.35:137:31
414.35:127:32
514.45:107:33
614.45:097:35
714.55:077:36
814.55:067:38
914.65:047:39
1014.65:037:40
1114.75:017:42
1214.75:007:43
1314.84:587:44
1414.84:577:46
1514.94:567:47
1614.94:547:48
1714.94:537:49
1815.04:527:51
1915.04:517:52
2015.14:507:53
2115.14:497:54
2215.14:487:56
2315.24:467:57
2415.24:457:58
2515.24:457:59
2615.34:448:00
2715.34:438:01
2815.34:428:02
2915.44:418:03
3015.44:408:04
3115.44:398:05

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.28 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.02 kWh/m² to a high of 5.67 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 5.28 kWh/m² sits near the top of that range.

0246151015202531
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
15.0Bright
25.0Bright
35.0Bright
45.0Bright
55.0Bright
65.0Bright
75.0Bright
85.0Bright
95.1Bright
105.1Bright
115.1Bright
125.1Bright
135.2Bright
145.2Bright
155.2Bright
165.3Bright
175.3Bright
185.3Bright
195.4Bright
205.4Bright
215.4Bright
225.5Bright
235.5Bright
245.5Bright
255.5Bright
265.5Bright
275.5Bright
285.5Bright
295.5Bright
305.5Bright
315.5Bright
Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Winterthur?

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

5.2
Sightseeing
5th-best month of the year
1.9
Beach & pool
5th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Winterthur for sightseeing.

What to pack for Winterthur in May

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

In May, Winterthur sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 9°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 15 days see rain.

rain gearsun protection

UV index in Winterthur 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 Winterthur peaks around July 15 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 1 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 8Dec 22UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May7High
Jun7Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug7High
Sep4Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low
Location & terrain

Where is Winterthur?

Winterthur sits at 47.5°N, 8.7°E, 441 m above sea level, in Switzerland. The nearest listed city is Stadt Winterthur (Kreis 1), 1.0 km away.

Topography around Winterthur

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Winterthur has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 191 m around an average of 475 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 549 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,315 m.

The land around Winterthur is covered by trees (53%) and artificial surfaces (31%) within 3 km, trees (43%) and cropland (26%) within 16 km, and trees (46%) and grassland (31%) within 80 km.

3 km
191 m
16 km
549 m
80 km
3,315 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
May weather nearby: Stadt Winterthur (Kreis 1) 1.0 km · Oberwinterthur (Kreis 2) 4.0 km · Seen (Kreis 3) 5.0 km · Kloten 12 km · Opfikon 14 km · Bülach 14 km · Frauenfeld 14 km · Dübendorf 14 km

Switzerland travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / J
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 112% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$114,769
2025
Happiness
7.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
97%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.6
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
2.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 564
Religion
Roman Catholic 34%none 29%Protestant 23%other Christian 6%

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 Winterthur (47.5056°, 8.7241°, elevation 441 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).