Elmira weather in May

In May, Elmira sees average daytime highs of 67°F and overnight lows near 48°F, with 3.5 in of precipitation across 13.2 wet days and about 14.4 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 5th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 63°F in the first days to 71°F by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 20% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 h 48 min at the start of May to 14 h 48 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Elmira's 6th-clearest and 8th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Elmira's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 67°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 48°; 8th coldest
Precipitation: 3.5 in; 13.2 wet days
Daylight: 14 h 24 min; 4:52 AM – 7:15 PM
Cloud cover: 66%; 6th clearest
Wind: 6 mph; 8th windiest
Solar energy: 5.63 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.7; out of 10

Elmira is city in Chemung County, New York, USA.

Density: 1,437/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1864

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

← April Elmira 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 63°F in the first days to 71°F by the end.

A typical May day in Elmira reaches about 67°F in the afternoon and slips back to 48°F overnight — a 19°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 55°F and 80°F. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 11°F warmer than April and about 9°F 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 (°F)	62	63	63	63	64	64	64	65	65	65	65	66	66	66	67	67	67	67	68	68	69	69	69	70	70	70	71	71	71	71	72
Avg low (°F)	43	43	44	44	44	45	45	45	46	46	46	46	47	47	47	47	48	48	49	49	49	50	50	50	51	51	51	52	52	52	53

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	62	43
2	63	43
3	63	44
4	63	44
5	64	44
6	64	45
7	64	45
8	65	45
9	65	46
10	65	46
11	65	46
12	66	46
13	66	47
14	66	47
15	67	47
16	67	47
17	67	48
18	67	48
19	68	49
20	68	49
21	69	49
22	69	50
23	69	50
24	70	50
25	70	51
26	70	51
27	71	51
28	71	52
29	71	52
30	71	52
31	72	53

How May really feels in Elmira

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 90°F and 0 that feel at or below 32°F — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 90°F

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 32°F

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.

Elmira 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 (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	32° / 18°	2.6	9.9	7.5	9.3	0.0
Feb	35° / 19°	2.3	8.5	6.2	10.3	0.0
Mar	43° / 27°	3.4	11	5.5	11.7	0.7
Apr	56° / 38°	3.7	12.3	1.8	13.1	3.6
May	67° / 48°	3.5	13.2	0.1	14.4	5.7
Jun	76° / 57°	3.7	11.6	0	15	6.5
Jul	80° / 61°	3.3	11.3	0	14.8	6.4
Aug	78° / 59°	3.4	10.7	0	13.7	6.6
Sep	71° / 52°	3.9	9.6	0	12.3	6.6
Oct	59° / 42°	3.6	10.4	0.4	10.8	4.4
Nov	46° / 32°	2.9	9.7	2.6	9.6	1.3
Dec	36° / 24°	3.0	9.7	5.3	9	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 20% 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 64%.

	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 (%)	36	36	36	36	36	34	34	33	33	33	32	32	32	32	32	33	34	34	35	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	41	41	42	42	42
Cloudier (%)	64	64	64	64	64	66	66	67	67	67	68	68	68	68	68	67	66	66	65	65	64	63	62	61	60	59	59	59	58	58	58

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	36	64
4	36	64
5	36	64
6	34	66
7	34	66
8	33	67
9	33	67
10	33	67
11	32	68
12	32	68
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	33	67
17	34	66
18	34	66
19	35	65
20	35	65
21	36	64
22	37	63
23	38	62
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	42	58
30	42	58
31	42	58

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Elmira gets around 3.5 in of rain and snow over 13.2 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 42% and peaks near 43% 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 (%)	42	42	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	42	42	42	42	41	41	41	41	41	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	43
4	43
5	43
6	43
7	43
8	43
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	43
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	41
19	41
20	41
21	41
22	41
23	40
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	40
28	40
29	40
30	40
31	40

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 81% 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 (%)	94	93	92	92	91	90	89	89	88	87	86	86	85	84	83	82	81	80	78	77	77	74	73	72	71	69	69	67	67	66	64
Comfortable (%)	5	6	7	7	8	8	9	9	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	13	13	13	14	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	16	17	17	17	18
Humid (%)	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6	7	8	8	9	10	11	11	12	12	13	13	13	14
Muggy (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	94	5	1	0
2	93	6	1	0
3	92	7	1	0
4	92	7	1	0
5	91	8	1	0
6	90	8	2	0
7	89	9	2	0
8	89	9	2	0
9	88	10	2	0
10	87	10	3	0
11	86	11	3	0
12	86	11	3	0
13	85	11	4	0
14	84	12	4	0
15	83	12	5	0
16	82	13	5	0
17	81	13	6	0
18	80	13	6	1
19	78	14	7	1
20	77	14	8	1
21	77	14	8	1
22	74	15	9	2
23	73	15	10	2
24	72	15	11	2
25	71	16	11	2
26	69	16	12	3
27	69	16	12	3
28	67	17	13	3
29	67	17	13	3
30	66	17	13	4
31	64	18	14	4

Wind in May

Winds average 6 mph in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 6 mph on the calmest days to 7 mph 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 (mph)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
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 (mph)	Feels
1	7	calm
2	7	calm
3	7	calm
4	7	calm
5	7	calm
6	7	calm
7	7	calm
8	7	calm
9	7	calm
10	7	calm
11	7	calm
12	7	calm
13	7	calm
14	7	calm
15	7	calm
16	7	calm
17	7	calm
18	6	calm
19	6	calm
20	6	calm
21	6	calm
22	6	calm
23	6	calm
24	6	calm
25	6	calm
26	6	calm
27	6	calm
28	6	calm
29	6	calm
30	6	calm
31	6	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 h 48 min at the start of May to 14 h 48 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 60 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:10 AM to 4:40 AM, and sunset from 6:58 PM to 7:29 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)	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.2	14.2	14.2	14.3	14.3	14.3	14.4	14.4	14.4	14.5	14.5	14.5	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.8	14.8	14.8
Sunrise (AM)	5:10	5:09	5:08	5:06	5:05	5:04	5:02	5:01	5:00	4:59	4:58	4:56	4:55	4:54	4:53	4:52	4:51	4:50	4:49	4:48	4:47	4:47	4:46	4:45	4:44	4:43	4:43	4:42	4:41	4:41	4:40
Sunset (PM)	6:58	7:00	7:01	7:02	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:06	7:07	7:08	7:09	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:22	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:28	7:29

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.8	5:10	6:58
2	13.8	5:09	7:00
3	13.9	5:08	7:01
4	13.9	5:06	7:02
5	14.0	5:05	7:03
6	14.0	5:04	7:04
7	14.0	5:02	7:05
8	14.1	5:01	7:06
9	14.1	5:00	7:07
10	14.2	4:59	7:08
11	14.2	4:58	7:09
12	14.2	4:56	7:11
13	14.3	4:55	7:12
14	14.3	4:54	7:13
15	14.3	4:53	7:14
16	14.4	4:52	7:15
17	14.4	4:51	7:16
18	14.4	4:50	7:17
19	14.5	4:49	7:18
20	14.5	4:48	7:19
21	14.5	4:47	7:20
22	14.6	4:47	7:21
23	14.6	4:46	7:22
24	14.6	4:45	7:23
25	14.7	4:44	7:24
26	14.7	4:43	7:25
27	14.7	4:43	7:25
28	14.7	4:42	7:26
29	14.8	4:41	7:27
30	14.8	4:41	7:28
31	14.8	4:40	7:29

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.63 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.43 kWh/m² to a high of 5.99 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 5.63 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)	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8
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	5.3	Bright
2	5.3	Bright
3	5.3	Bright
4	5.4	Bright
5	5.4	Bright
6	5.4	Bright
7	5.4	Bright
8	5.5	Bright
9	5.5	Bright
10	5.5	Bright
11	5.5	Bright
12	5.5	Bright
13	5.5	Bright
14	5.5	Bright
15	5.6	Bright
16	5.6	Bright
17	5.6	Bright
18	5.6	Bright
19	5.7	Bright
20	5.7	Bright
21	5.7	Bright
22	5.7	Bright
23	5.7	Bright
24	5.8	Bright
25	5.8	Bright
26	5.8	Bright
27	5.8	Bright
28	5.8	Bright
29	5.8	Bright
30	5.8	Bright
31	5.8	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Elmira?

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

5.7

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

2.7

Beach & pool

5th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Elmira for sightseeing.

What to pack for Elmira in May

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

In May, Elmira sees daytime highs around 67°F and nights near 48°F. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 13 days see rain.

rain gearsun protection

UV index in Elmira in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 8 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Elmira peaks around July 10 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 1 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	4	5	8	9	9	6	6	3	2	2
Level	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Low
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	4	Moderate
Apr	5	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	9	Very high
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	6	High
Sep	6	High
Oct	3	Moderate
Nov	2	Moderate
Dec	2	Low

Location & terrain

Where is Elmira?

Elmira sits at 42.1°N, 76.8°W, 853 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Ithaca, 29 mi away.

Topography around Elmira

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Elmira.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Elmira has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 807 ft around an average of 948 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,204 ft; within 50 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,228 ft.

The land around Elmira is covered by trees (48%), artificial surfaces (25%) and grassland (21%) within 2 miles, trees (71%) and grassland (21%) within 10 miles, and trees (72%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

807 ft

trees 48%

10 miles

1,204 ft

trees 71%

50 miles

2,228 ft

trees 72%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

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

May weather nearby: Ithaca 29 mi · Vestal 39 mi · Binghamton 45 mi · Cortland 48 mi · Auburn 60 mi · Williamsport 60 mi · Back Mountain 67 mi · Syracuse 74 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs: Type A / B; 120 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 100% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $90,027; 2025
Happiness: 6.8 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 98%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 5.8; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 12.7; 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 Elmira (42.0898°, -76.8077°, elevation 853 ft), 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 (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	62	43
2	63	43
3	63	44
4	63	44
5	64	44
6	64	45
7	64	45
8	65	45
9	65	46
10	65	46
11	65	46
12	66	46
13	66	47
14	66	47
15	67	47
16	67	47
17	67	48
18	67	48
19	68	49
20	68	49
21	69	49
22	69	50
23	69	50
24	70	50
25	70	51
26	70	51
27	71	51
28	71	52
29	71	52
30	71	52
31	72	53

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	36	64
4	36	64
5	36	64
6	34	66
7	34	66
8	33	67
9	33	67
10	33	67
11	32	68
12	32	68
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	33	67
17	34	66
18	34	66
19	35	65
20	35	65
21	36	64
22	37	63
23	38	62
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	42	58
30	42	58
31	42	58

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	43
4	43
5	43
6	43
7	43
8	43
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	43
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	41
19	41
20	41
21	41
22	41
23	40
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	40
28	40
29	40
30	40
31	40

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	94	5	1	0
2	93	6	1	0
3	92	7	1	0
4	92	7	1	0
5	91	8	1	0
6	90	8	2	0
7	89	9	2	0
8	89	9	2	0
9	88	10	2	0
10	87	10	3	0
11	86	11	3	0
12	86	11	3	0
13	85	11	4	0
14	84	12	4	0
15	83	12	5	0
16	82	13	5	0
17	81	13	6	0
18	80	13	6	1
19	78	14	7	1
20	77	14	8	1
21	77	14	8	1
22	74	15	9	2
23	73	15	10	2
24	72	15	11	2
25	71	16	11	2
26	69	16	12	3
27	69	16	12	3
28	67	17	13	3
29	67	17	13	3
30	66	17	13	4
31	64	18	14	4

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	62	43
2	63	43
3	63	44
4	63	44
5	64	44
6	64	45
7	64	45
8	65	45
9	65	46
10	65	46
11	65	46
12	66	46
13	66	47
14	66	47
15	67	47
16	67	47
17	67	48
18	67	48
19	68	49
20	68	49
21	69	49
22	69	50
23	69	50
24	70	50
25	70	51
26	70	51
27	71	51
28	71	52
29	71	52
30	71	52
31	72	53

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	36	64
4	36	64
5	36	64
6	34	66
7	34	66
8	33	67
9	33	67
10	33	67
11	32	68
12	32	68
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	33	67
17	34	66
18	34	66
19	35	65
20	35	65
21	36	64
22	37	63
23	38	62
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	42	58
30	42	58
31	42	58

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	43
4	43
5	43
6	43
7	43
8	43
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	43
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	41
19	41
20	41
21	41
22	41
23	40
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	40
28	40
29	40
30	40
31	40

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	94	5	1	0
2	93	6	1	0
3	92	7	1	0
4	92	7	1	0
5	91	8	1	0
6	90	8	2	0
7	89	9	2	0
8	89	9	2	0
9	88	10	2	0
10	87	10	3	0
11	86	11	3	0
12	86	11	3	0
13	85	11	4	0
14	84	12	4	0
15	83	12	5	0
16	82	13	5	0
17	81	13	6	0
18	80	13	6	1
19	78	14	7	1
20	77	14	8	1
21	77	14	8	1
22	74	15	9	2
23	73	15	10	2
24	72	15	11	2
25	71	16	11	2
26	69	16	12	3
27	69	16	12	3
28	67	17	13	3
29	67	17	13	3
30	66	17	13	4
31	64	18	14	4

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	62	43
2	63	43
3	63	44
4	63	44
5	64	44
6	64	45
7	64	45
8	65	45
9	65	46
10	65	46
11	65	46
12	66	46
13	66	47
14	66	47
15	67	47
16	67	47
17	67	48
18	67	48
19	68	49
20	68	49
21	69	49
22	69	50
23	69	50
24	70	50
25	70	51
26	70	51
27	71	51
28	71	52
29	71	52
30	71	52
31	72	53

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	36	64
2	36	64
3	36	64
4	36	64
5	36	64
6	34	66
7	34	66
8	33	67
9	33	67
10	33	67
11	32	68
12	32	68
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	32	68
16	33	67
17	34	66
18	34	66
19	35	65
20	35	65
21	36	64
22	37	63
23	38	62
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	41	59
29	42	58
30	42	58
31	42	58

	Rain chance (%)
1	42
2	42
3	43
4	43
5	43
6	43
7	43
8	43
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	43
14	42
15	42
16	42
17	42
18	41
19	41
20	41
21	41
22	41
23	40
24	40
25	40
26	40
27	40
28	40
29	40
30	40
31	40

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	94	5	1	0
2	93	6	1	0
3	92	7	1	0
4	92	7	1	0
5	91	8	1	0
6	90	8	2	0
7	89	9	2	0
8	89	9	2	0
9	88	10	2	0
10	87	10	3	0
11	86	11	3	0
12	86	11	3	0
13	85	11	4	0
14	84	12	4	0
15	83	12	5	0
16	82	13	5	0
17	81	13	6	0
18	80	13	6	1
19	78	14	7	1
20	77	14	8	1
21	77	14	8	1
22	74	15	9	2
23	73	15	10	2
24	72	15	11	2
25	71	16	11	2
26	69	16	12	3
27	69	16	12	3
28	67	17	13	3
29	67	17	13	3
30	66	17	13	4
31	64	18	14	4