Fairbanks weather in May

In May, Fairbanks sees average daytime highs of 60°F and overnight lows near 41°F, with 0.8 in of precipitation across 5.3 wet days and about 18.1 hours of daylight. It is the 4th-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 54°F in the first days to 66°F by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 16 h 30 min at the start of May to 19 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Fairbanks's 6th-clearest and 7th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Fairbanks's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 60°; 4th warmest
Overnight low: 41°; 9th coldest
Precipitation: 0.8 in; 5.3 wet days
Daylight: 18 h 12 min; 3:42 AM – 9:52 PM
Cloud cover: 65%; 6th clearest
Wind: 5 mph; 7th windiest
Solar energy: 5.57 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.3; out of 10

Fairbanks is city in Alaska, USA.

Density: 384/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1901

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

← April Fairbanks 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 54°F in the first days to 66°F by the end.

A typical May day in Fairbanks reaches about 60°F in the afternoon and slips back to 41°F overnight — a 19°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 50°F and 71°F. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 16°F warmer than April and about 10°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)	53	54	54	55	55	56	56	56	57	58	58	59	59	60	60	61	61	62	62	63	63	64	64	65	65	65	66	66	66	67	67
Avg low (°F)	34	34	35	35	36	36	37	37	38	38	39	39	40	40	41	41	42	42	43	44	44	45	45	46	46	46	47	47	47	48	48

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	53	34
2	54	34
3	54	35
4	55	35
5	55	36
6	56	36
7	56	37
8	56	37
9	57	38
10	58	38
11	58	39
12	59	39
13	59	40
14	60	40
15	60	41
16	61	41
17	61	42
18	62	42
19	62	43
20	63	44
21	63	44
22	64	45
23	64	45
24	65	46
25	65	46
26	65	46
27	66	47
28	66	47
29	66	47
30	67	48
31	67	48

How May really feels in Fairbanks

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 90°F and 5 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

The story in May is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Fairbanks weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 4th-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	3° / -9°	0.4	3.5	4.6	4.6	0.0
Feb	12° / -3°	0.4	3.1	3.9	7.8	0.0
Mar	25° / 5°	0.3	2.4	3.1	11.2	0.0
Apr	44° / 24°	0.4	2.8	2.2	14.7	1.3
May	60° / 41°	0.8	5.3	0.5	18.1	5.3
Jun	70° / 53°	2.0	10.2	0	20.6	6.3
Jul	71° / 55°	2.4	11	0	19.6	6.3
Aug	65° / 50°	2.4	10.9	0	16.2	5.6
Sep	54° / 39°	1.6	7.9	1	12.7	3.4
Oct	33° / 22°	0.8	5.4	4.2	9.2	0.1
Nov	14° / 3°	0.6	4.4	5.5	5.8	0.0
Dec	6° / -6°	0.4	3.7	4.7	3.3	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% 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 60%. Skies tend to cloud over as the month goes on.

	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 (%)	44	44	43	42	42	41	41	41	41	40	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	40	39	39	38	37	36	37	36	36
Cloudier (%)	56	56	57	58	58	59	59	59	59	60	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	59	60	61	61	62	63	64	63	64	64

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	44	56
2	44	56
3	43	57
4	42	58
5	42	58
6	41	59
7	41	59
8	41	59
9	41	59
10	40	60
11	41	59
12	41	59
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	41	59
16	41	59
17	41	59
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	39	61
25	39	61
26	38	62
27	37	63
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	36	64
31	36	64

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitationSnow

Fairbanks gets around 0.8 in of rain and snow over 5.3 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 18% and peaks near 28% on the wettest days, and about 1 day brings 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 (%)	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	17	17	18	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28
Snow chance (%)	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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

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 5 mph in May.

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

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 16 h 30 min at the start of May to 19 h 42 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 192 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 4:34 AM to 2:57 AM, and sunset from 9:02 PM to 10:40 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)	16.5	16.6	16.7	16.8	16.9	17.0	17.1	17.3	17.4	17.5	17.6	17.7	17.8	17.9	18.0	18.2	18.3	18.4	18.5	18.6	18.7	18.8	18.9	19.0	19.1	19.2	19.3	19.4	19.5	19.6	19.7
Sunrise (AM)	4:34	4:31	4:27	4:24	4:20	4:17	4:13	4:10	4:06	4:03	3:59	3:56	3:52	3:49	3:46	3:42	3:39	3:36	3:33	3:29	3:26	3:23	3:20	3:17	3:14	3:11	3:08	3:05	3:02	2:59	2:57
Sunset (PM)	9:02	9:05	9:08	9:12	9:15	9:18	9:22	9:25	9:28	9:32	9:35	9:38	9:42	9:45	9:48	9:52	9:55	9:58	10:02	10:05	10:08	10:12	10:15	10:18	10:21	10:25	10:28	10:31	10:34	10:37	10:40

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	16.5	4:34	9:02
2	16.6	4:31	9:05
3	16.7	4:27	9:08
4	16.8	4:24	9:12
5	16.9	4:20	9:15
6	17.0	4:17	9:18
7	17.1	4:13	9:22
8	17.3	4:10	9:25
9	17.4	4:06	9:28
10	17.5	4:03	9:32
11	17.6	3:59	9:35
12	17.7	3:56	9:38
13	17.8	3:52	9:42
14	17.9	3:49	9:45
15	18.0	3:46	9:48
16	18.2	3:42	9:52
17	18.3	3:39	9:55
18	18.4	3:36	9:58
19	18.5	3:33	10:02
20	18.6	3:29	10:05
21	18.7	3:26	10:08
22	18.8	3:23	10:12
23	18.9	3:20	10:15
24	19.0	3:17	10:18
25	19.1	3:14	10:21
26	19.2	3:11	10:25
27	19.3	3:08	10:28
28	19.4	3:05	10:31
29	19.5	3:02	10:34
30	19.6	2:59	10:37
31	19.7	2:57	10:40

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.57 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.05 kWh/m² to a high of 5.88 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 5.57 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)	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	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	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	5.0	Bright
2	5.0	Bright
3	5.1	Bright
4	5.1	Bright
5	5.2	Bright
6	5.2	Bright
7	5.2	Bright
8	5.3	Bright
9	5.3	Bright
10	5.4	Bright
11	5.4	Bright
12	5.4	Bright
13	5.5	Bright
14	5.5	Bright
15	5.6	Bright
16	5.6	Bright
17	5.6	Bright
18	5.7	Bright
19	5.7	Bright
20	5.7	Bright
21	5.7	Bright
22	5.7	Bright
23	5.8	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 Fairbanks?

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

5.3

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

1.1

Beach & pool

4th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Fairbanks for sightseeing.

What to pack for Fairbanks in May

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

In May, Fairbanks sees daytime highs around 60°F and nights near 41°F. Worth packing: a warm layer and sun protection. About 5 days see rain.

a warm layersun protection

UV index in Fairbanks 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 Fairbanks peaks around June 20 at about 4 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 17 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	5	4	3	2	1	0	0
Level	Low	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	0	Low
Feb	0	Low
Mar	1	Low
Apr	2	Moderate
May	3	Moderate
Jun	5	Moderate
Jul	4	Moderate
Aug	3	Moderate
Sep	2	Low
Oct	1	Low
Nov	0	Low
Dec	0	Low

Air quality in Fairbanks 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 Fairbanks is worst in June — around 34 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 33.8× the cleanest month (December, 1 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	1	3	5	8	10	34	29	19	3	2	1	1
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	1	Good
Feb	3	Good
Mar	5	Good
Apr	8	Good
May	10	Good
Jun	34	Moderate
Jul	29	Moderate
Aug	19	Moderate
Sep	3	Good
Oct	2	Good
Nov	1	Good
Dec	1	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Fairbanks?

Fairbanks sits at 64.8°N, 147.7°W, 446 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Badger, 6.2 mi away.

Topography around Fairbanks

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Fairbanks has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 102 ft around an average of 443 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,801 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,350 ft.

The land around Fairbanks is covered by trees (34%), artificial surfaces (31%) and grassland (22%) within 2 miles, trees (69%) and grassland (20%) within 10 miles, and trees (66%) and grassland (29%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

102 ft

trees 34%

10 miles

1,801 ft

trees 69%

50 miles

4,350 ft

trees 66%

treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmoss and lichen

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

May weather nearby: Badger 6.2 mi · Eagle River 250 mi · Dawson City 252 mi · Anchorage 259 mi · Whitehorse 490 mi · Juneau 626 mi · Terrace 969 mi · Anadyr 1,010 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 Fairbanks (64.8378°, -147.7164°, elevation 446 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. 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 (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	53	34
2	54	34
3	54	35
4	55	35
5	55	36
6	56	36
7	56	37
8	56	37
9	57	38
10	58	38
11	58	39
12	59	39
13	59	40
14	60	40
15	60	41
16	61	41
17	61	42
18	62	42
19	62	43
20	63	44
21	63	44
22	64	45
23	64	45
24	65	46
25	65	46
26	65	46
27	66	47
28	66	47
29	66	47
30	67	48
31	67	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	44	56
2	44	56
3	43	57
4	42	58
5	42	58
6	41	59
7	41	59
8	41	59
9	41	59
10	40	60
11	41	59
12	41	59
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	41	59
16	41	59
17	41	59
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	39	61
25	39	61
26	38	62
27	37	63
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	36	64
31	36	64

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

	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 (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	53	34
2	54	34
3	54	35
4	55	35
5	55	36
6	56	36
7	56	37
8	56	37
9	57	38
10	58	38
11	58	39
12	59	39
13	59	40
14	60	40
15	60	41
16	61	41
17	61	42
18	62	42
19	62	43
20	63	44
21	63	44
22	64	45
23	64	45
24	65	46
25	65	46
26	65	46
27	66	47
28	66	47
29	66	47
30	67	48
31	67	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	44	56
2	44	56
3	43	57
4	42	58
5	42	58
6	41	59
7	41	59
8	41	59
9	41	59
10	40	60
11	41	59
12	41	59
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	41	59
16	41	59
17	41	59
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	39	61
25	39	61
26	38	62
27	37	63
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	36	64
31	36	64

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

	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 (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	53	34
2	54	34
3	54	35
4	55	35
5	55	36
6	56	36
7	56	37
8	56	37
9	57	38
10	58	38
11	58	39
12	59	39
13	59	40
14	60	40
15	60	41
16	61	41
17	61	42
18	62	42
19	62	43
20	63	44
21	63	44
22	64	45
23	64	45
24	65	46
25	65	46
26	65	46
27	66	47
28	66	47
29	66	47
30	67	48
31	67	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	44	56
2	44	56
3	43	57
4	42	58
5	42	58
6	41	59
7	41	59
8	41	59
9	41	59
10	40	60
11	41	59
12	41	59
13	41	59
14	41	59
15	41	59
16	41	59
17	41	59
18	41	59
19	41	59
20	41	59
21	41	59
22	41	59
23	40	60
24	39	61
25	39	61
26	38	62
27	37	63
28	36	64
29	37	63
30	36	64
31	36	64

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

	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