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Climate · Shanghai

Shanghai in May

Warm and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Shanghai is warm: highs near 78°F, lows near 62°F. Rain falls on about two days a week, and the days lengthen by 36 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Shanghai is warm: highs near 26°C, lows near 17°C. Rain falls on about two days a week, and the days lengthen by 36 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
78°F26°Caverage
Low
62°F17°Caverage
Wet days
2a week · 32% of days
Daylight
13h 44mon average

Is May a good time to visit Shanghai?

Yes. May is one of Shanghai's best months (May, or October).

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 78°F in May, against 50°F to 91°F through the year.Highs near 26°C in May, against 10°C to 33°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

32% of days in May, against 20% to 52% through the year.

Cloud cover

56% cover in May, against 35% to 68% through the year.

Daylight

13h 44m in May, against 10h 09m to 14h 09m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with May shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. April69°21°low 52°low 11°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. May78°26°low 62°low 17°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  3. June83°28°low 70°low 21°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.

Where Shanghai sits, in May

Asia/Shanghai
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
4:59 AMsets 6:42 PM
Above the sea
20 mlow-lying
Latitude
31.2°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Hangzhou163 km south-west

The land around Shanghai, shaded by its typical high in May, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in China in May

high · low · wet days
See May on the planning mapThe whole year in Shanghai

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Shanghai. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.