ClimateExplore the planning map
Climate · Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara in May

Warm and dry, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Santa Barbara is warm: highs near 77°F, lows near 54°F. Rain is rare, and the days lengthen by 41 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Santa Barbara is warm: highs near 25°C, lows near 12°C. Rain is rare, and the days lengthen by 41 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
77°F25°Caverage
Low
54°F12°Caverage
Wet days
0a week · 5% of days
Daylight
13h 57mon average

Is May a good time to visit Santa Barbara?

Yes. May is one of Santa Barbara's best months (April to June, or October to 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 77°F in May, against 67°F to 86°F through the year.Highs near 25°C in May, against 19°C to 30°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

5% of days in May, against 0% to 20% through the year.

Cloud cover

27% cover in May, against 11% to 49% through the year.

Daylight

13h 57m in May, against 9h 53m to 14h 25m 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. April73°23°low 49°low 9°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  2. May77°25°low 54°low 12°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.
  3. June81°27°low 59°low 15°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.

Where Santa Barbara sits, in May

America/Los Angeles
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
5:57 AMsets 7:53 PM
Above the sea
75 mlow-lying
Latitude
34.4°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Los Olivos46 km north-west

The land around Santa Barbara, 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 Santa Barbara

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), read 10 km east of Santa Barbara. Its own grid square is mostly sea and holds only a daily average, so the page reads the nearest square with a true high and low near the town's height. 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 (75 m) against the climate model's (141 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 (75 m) against the climate model's (141 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.