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Climate · New Orleans

New Orleans in May

Hot and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in New Orleans is hot: highs near 85°F, lows near 70°F. Rain falls on about two days a week, and the days lengthen by 34 minutes from the first week to the last.May in New Orleans is hot: highs near 29°C, lows near 21°C. Rain falls on about two days a week, and the days lengthen by 34 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
85°F29°Caverage
Low
70°F21°Caverage
Wet days
2a week · 34% of days
Daylight
13h 39mon average

Is May a good time to visit New Orleans?

A good month, just outside New Orleans's best months, which run in two parts: March to April, or November.

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 85°F in May, against 65°F to 91°F through the year.Highs near 29°C in May, against 18°C to 33°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

34% of days in May, against 26% to 65% through the year.

Cloud cover

42% cover in May, against 33% to 58% through the year.

Daylight

13h 39m in May, against 10h 15m to 14h 02m 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. April78°26°low 63°low 17°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  2. May85°29°low 70°low 21°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  3. June90°32°low 76°low 24°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.

Where New Orleans sits, in May

America/Chicago
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
6:07 AMsets 7:45 PM
Above the sea
0 mlow-lying
Latitude
30.0°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Houston510 km west

The land around New Orleans, 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 New Orleans

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest New Orleans. 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.