Prescott weather in May

In May, Prescott sees average daytime highs of 77°F and overnight lows near 52°F, with 0.5 in of rain across 3.2 wet days and about 13.8 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 73°F in the first days to 81°F by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 66% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 h 24 min at the start of May to 14 h 06 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Prescott's 4th-clearest and 2nd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Prescott's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 77°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 52°; 8th coldest
Rainfall: 0.5 in; 3.2 wet days
Daylight: 13 h 48 min; 5:32 AM – 7:20 PM
Cloud cover: 30%; 4th clearest
Wind: 6 mph; 2nd windiest
Solar energy: 8.08 kWh/m²
Travel score: 8.4; out of 10

Prescott is City in and county seat of Yavapai County, Arizona, United States.

Density: 358/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1881

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

← April Prescott 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 73°F in the first days to 81°F by the end.

A typical May day in Prescott reaches about 77°F in the afternoon and slips back to 52°F overnight — a 25°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 66°F and 87°F. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 9°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)	73	73	73	74	74	74	74	75	75	75	76	76	76	76	77	77	77	77	78	78	78	78	79	79	80	80	80	81	81	82	82
Avg low (°F)	48	48	48	49	49	49	49	50	50	50	51	51	51	51	51	52	52	52	53	53	53	53	53	54	54	54	55	55	55	56	56

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	73	48
2	73	48
3	73	48
4	74	49
5	74	49
6	74	49
7	74	49
8	75	50
9	75	50
10	75	50
11	76	51
12	76	51
13	76	51
14	76	51
15	77	51
16	77	52
17	77	52
18	77	52
19	78	53
20	78	53
21	78	53
22	78	53
23	79	53
24	79	54
25	80	54
26	80	54
27	80	55
28	81	55
29	81	55
30	82	56
31	82	56

How May really feels in Prescott

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.

Prescott weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 5th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	53° / 31°	1.6	5.2	1.8	9.9	3.4
Feb	55° / 34°	2.0	6	2.2	10.7	4.0
Mar	61° / 38°	1.6	5.4	1.6	11.7	5.9
Apr	68° / 43°	0.7	3.4	0.6	12.8	7.7
May	77° / 52°	0.5	3.2	0	13.8	8.4
Jun	87° / 60°	0.2	1.7	0	14.3	6.1
Jul	89° / 66°	2.5	11.2	0	14.1	4.2
Aug	87° / 65°	2.5	12.5	0	13.3	4.6
Sep	82° / 60°	1.5	6.1	0	12.2	7.1
Oct	73° / 49°	1.1	3.8	0.1	11.1	8.3
Nov	61° / 38°	1.1	3.3	0.6	10.2	6.2
Dec	52° / 31°	1.5	5.1	2.2	9.7	3.2

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 66% 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 20%. Skies tend to open up 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 (%)	81	81	80	79	79	79	79	79	77	77	77	78	78	78	78	79	79	79	79	80	81	81	81	81	83	83	83	84	85	85	85
Cloudier (%)	19	19	20	21	21	21	21	21	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	20	19	19	19	19	17	17	17	16	15	15	15

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	79	21
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	78	22
13	78	22
14	78	22
15	78	22
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	80	20
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	83	17
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	84	16
29	85	15
30	85	15
31	85	15

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Prescott gets around 0.5 in of rain over 3.2 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 11% and peaks near 12% 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 (%)	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	10	10	9	9	8	8	7	7	6	5

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

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 6 mph in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 6 mph on the calmest days to 6 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)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	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	6	calm
2	6	calm
3	6	calm
4	6	calm
5	6	calm
6	6	calm
7	6	calm
8	6	calm
9	6	calm
10	6	calm
11	6	calm
12	6	calm
13	6	calm
14	6	calm
15	6	calm
16	6	calm
17	6	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 24 min at the start of May to 14 h 06 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 42 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:46 AM to 5:24 AM, and sunset from 7:08 PM to 7:31 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)	13.4	13.4	13.4	13.5	13.5	13.5	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.6	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.7	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.8	13.9	13.9	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.1	14.1
Sunrise (AM)	5:46	5:45	5:44	5:43	5:42	5:41	5:40	5:39	5:38	5:37	5:36	5:35	5:35	5:34	5:33	5:32	5:31	5:31	5:30	5:29	5:29	5:28	5:27	5:27	5:26	5:26	5:25	5:25	5:24	5:24	5:24
Sunset (PM)	7:08	7:09	7:10	7:11	7:11	7:12	7:13	7:14	7:15	7:15	7:16	7:17	7:18	7:19	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:22	7:22	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:28	7:28	7:29	7:30	7:30	7:31

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.4	5:46	7:08
2	13.4	5:45	7:09
3	13.4	5:44	7:10
4	13.5	5:43	7:11
5	13.5	5:42	7:11
6	13.5	5:41	7:12
7	13.6	5:40	7:13
8	13.6	5:39	7:14
9	13.6	5:38	7:15
10	13.6	5:37	7:15
11	13.7	5:36	7:16
12	13.7	5:35	7:17
13	13.7	5:35	7:18
14	13.7	5:34	7:19
15	13.8	5:33	7:19
16	13.8	5:32	7:20
17	13.8	5:31	7:21
18	13.8	5:31	7:22
19	13.9	5:30	7:22
20	13.9	5:29	7:23
21	13.9	5:29	7:24
22	13.9	5:28	7:25
23	14.0	5:27	7:25
24	14.0	5:27	7:26
25	14.0	5:26	7:27
26	14.0	5:26	7:28
27	14.0	5:25	7:28
28	14.1	5:25	7:29
29	14.1	5:24	7:30
30	14.1	5:24	7:30
31	14.1	5:24	7:31

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 8.08 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 3.06 kWh/m² to a high of 8.51 kWh/m² in June across the year — May's 8.08 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)	7.8	7.8	7.8	7.9	7.9	7.9	7.9	7.9	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.1	8.1	8.1	8.1	8.1	8.1	8.2	8.2	8.2	8.2	8.2	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.4	8.4
Level	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	7.8	Intense
2	7.8	Intense
3	7.8	Intense
4	7.9	Intense
5	7.9	Intense
6	7.9	Intense
7	7.9	Intense
8	7.9	Intense
9	8.0	Intense
10	8.0	Intense
11	8.0	Intense
12	8.0	Intense
13	8.0	Intense
14	8.0	Intense
15	8.1	Intense
16	8.1	Intense
17	8.1	Intense
18	8.1	Intense
19	8.1	Intense
20	8.1	Intense
21	8.2	Intense
22	8.2	Intense
23	8.2	Intense
24	8.2	Intense
25	8.2	Intense
26	8.3	Intense
27	8.3	Intense
28	8.3	Intense
29	8.3	Intense
30	8.4	Intense
31	8.4	Intense

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Prescott?

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

8.4

Sightseeing

1st-best month of the year

7.5

Beach & pool

3rd-best month of the year

May is one of the better times to visit Prescott for general sightseeing. The water and warmth also suit a beach or pool day.

What to pack for Prescott in May

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

In May, Prescott sees daytime highs around 77°F and nights near 52°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 3 days see rain.

sun protectionlight clothes

UV index in Prescott in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 9 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Prescott peaks around June 22 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	4	5	5	7	9	12	11	11	9	6	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	4	Moderate
Feb	5	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	7	High
May	9	Very high
Jun	12	Extreme
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	11	Extreme
Sep	9	Very high
Oct	6	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Prescott?

Prescott sits at 34.5°N, 112.5°W, 5,374 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Prescott Valley, 9.9 mi away.

Topography around Prescott

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Prescott has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 922 ft around an average of 5,531 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,504 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 7,736 ft.

The land around Prescott is covered by trees (44%) and artificial surfaces (30%) within 2 miles, trees (53%) and grassland (21%) within 10 miles, and shrubs (46%), grassland (30%) and trees (21%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

922 ft

trees 44%

10 miles

3,504 ft

trees 53%

50 miles

7,736 ft

shrubs 46%

treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrain

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

May weather nearby: Prescott Valley 9.9 mi · Sedona 46 mi · Anthem 50 mi · Sun City West 61 mi · Deer Valley 62 mi · Surprise 63 mi · El Mirage 65 mi · Flagstaff 65 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 Prescott (34.54°, -112.4685°, elevation 5,374 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	73	48
2	73	48
3	73	48
4	74	49
5	74	49
6	74	49
7	74	49
8	75	50
9	75	50
10	75	50
11	76	51
12	76	51
13	76	51
14	76	51
15	77	51
16	77	52
17	77	52
18	77	52
19	78	53
20	78	53
21	78	53
22	78	53
23	79	53
24	79	54
25	80	54
26	80	54
27	80	55
28	81	55
29	81	55
30	82	56
31	82	56

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	79	21
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	78	22
13	78	22
14	78	22
15	78	22
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	80	20
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	83	17
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	84	16
29	85	15
30	85	15
31	85	15

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

	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	73	48
2	73	48
3	73	48
4	74	49
5	74	49
6	74	49
7	74	49
8	75	50
9	75	50
10	75	50
11	76	51
12	76	51
13	76	51
14	76	51
15	77	51
16	77	52
17	77	52
18	77	52
19	78	53
20	78	53
21	78	53
22	78	53
23	79	53
24	79	54
25	80	54
26	80	54
27	80	55
28	81	55
29	81	55
30	82	56
31	82	56

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	79	21
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	78	22
13	78	22
14	78	22
15	78	22
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	80	20
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	83	17
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	84	16
29	85	15
30	85	15
31	85	15

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

	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	73	48
2	73	48
3	73	48
4	74	49
5	74	49
6	74	49
7	74	49
8	75	50
9	75	50
10	75	50
11	76	51
12	76	51
13	76	51
14	76	51
15	77	51
16	77	52
17	77	52
18	77	52
19	78	53
20	78	53
21	78	53
22	78	53
23	79	53
24	79	54
25	80	54
26	80	54
27	80	55
28	81	55
29	81	55
30	82	56
31	82	56

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	81	19
2	81	19
3	80	20
4	79	21
5	79	21
6	79	21
7	79	21
8	79	21
9	77	23
10	77	23
11	77	23
12	78	22
13	78	22
14	78	22
15	78	22
16	79	21
17	79	21
18	79	21
19	79	21
20	80	20
21	81	19
22	81	19
23	81	19
24	81	19
25	83	17
26	83	17
27	83	17
28	84	16
29	85	15
30	85	15
31	85	15

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

	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