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Climate · Big Sur

Big Sur in May

Mild and dry, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Big Sur is mild: highs near 64°F, lows near 50°F. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days lengthen by 44 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Big Sur is mild: highs near 18°C, lows near 10°C. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days lengthen by 44 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
64°F18°Caverage
Low
50°F10°Caverage
Wet days
1a week · 11% of days
Daylight
14h 05mon average

Is May a good time to visit Big Sur?

A good month, just outside Big Sur's best months, which run from July to 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 64°F in May, against 59°F to 73°F through the year.Highs near 18°C in May, against 15°C to 23°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

11% of days in May, against 1% to 34% through the year.

Cloud cover

38% cover in May, against 14% to 55% through the year.

Daylight

14h 05m in May, against 9h 44m to 14h 35m 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. April61°16°low 47°low 8°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  2. May64°18°low 50°low 10°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  3. June69°21°low 53°low 12°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.

Where Big Sur sits, in May

America/Los Angeles
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
6:01 AMsets 8:05 PM
Above the sea
366 mlow-lying
Latitude
36.3°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Carmel33 km north

The land around Big Sur, 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 United States in May

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

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Big Sur. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (366 m) against the climate model's (439 m).Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (366 m) against the climate model's (439 m). 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.