Does it rain a lot in Rome in May?

Daily high temperatures increase by 4°C, from 21°C to 25°C, rarely falling below 17°C or exceeding 29°C.

Daily low temperatures increase by 4°C, from 10°C to 14°C, rarely falling below 7°C or exceeding 17°C.

For reference, on 5 August, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Rome typically range from 19°C to 31°C, while on 13 January, the coldest day of the year, they range from 3°C to 12°C.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on May. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Alta Sierra, California, United States (9,868 kilometres away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Rome (view comparison).

Compare Rome to another city:

Clouds

The month of May in Rome experiences decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 43% to 34%.

The clearest day of the month is 31 May, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 66% of the time.

For reference, on 29 November, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 48%, while on 21 July, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 88%.

Precipitation

A wet day is one with at least 1 millimetre of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Rome, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is rapidly decreasing, starting the month at 23% and ending it at 16%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 34% on 19 November, and its lowest chance is 7% on 6 August.

Rainfall

To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during May in Rome is decreasing, starting the month at 46 millimetres, when it rarely exceeds 83 millimetres or falls below 12 millimetres, and ending the month at 32 millimetres, when it rarely exceeds 70 millimetres or falls below 4 millimetres.

Sun

Over the course of May in Rome, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 58 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 56 seconds, and weekly increase of 13 minutes, 33 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is 1 May, with 14 hours, 2 minutes of daylight and the longest day is 31 May, with 15 hours, 0 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the month in Rome is 6:06 am on 1 May and the earliest sunrise is 29 minutes earlier at 5:37 am on 31 May.

The earliest sunset is 8:08 pm on 1 May and the latest sunset is 29 minutes later at 8:37 pm on 31 May.

Daylight saving time is observed in Rome during 2022, but it neither starts nor ends during May, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.

For reference, on 21 June, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:34 am and sets 15 hours, 14 minutes later, at 8:48 pm, while on 21 December, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:34 am and sets 9 hours, 8 minutes later, at 4:41 pm.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in May in Rome

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in May in Rome May112233445566778899101011111212131314141515161617171818191920202121222223232424252526262727282829293030313112 am12 am2 am2 am4 am4 am6 am6 am8 am8 am10 am10 am12 pm12 pm2 pm2 pm4 pm4 pm6 pm6 pm8 pm8 pm10 pm 10 pm12 am12 amApr.Jun.0010102020203030404050505060600001010202030303040405050606070

northeastsouthwest

Solar elevation and azimuth over the course of May 2022. The black lines are lines of constant solar elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon, in degrees). The background color fills indicate the azimuth (the compass bearing) of the sun. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries of the cardinal compass points indicate the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Moon

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for May 2022. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

Humidity

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Rome is gradually increasing during May, rising from 0% to 5% over the course of the month.

For reference, on 10 August, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 51% of the time, while on 2 December, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

Wind

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 metres above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Rome is gradually decreasing during May, decreasing from 12.4 kilometres per hour to 11.4 kilometres per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on 3 April, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 13.7 kilometres per hour, while on 12 August, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 11.0 kilometres per hour.

The wind direction in Rome during May is predominantly out of the south from 1 May to 13 May and the west from 13 May to 31 May.

Wind Direction in May in Rome

Wind Direction in May in RomeSWMay11 223344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0% Apr.Jun.westsoutheastnorth

northeastsouthwest

The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions, excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1.6 km/h. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Water Temperature

Rome is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Rome is increasing during May, rising by 3°C, from 16°C to 20°C, over the course of the month.

Growing Season

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 0°C) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from 1 July until 30 June in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Rome typically lasts for 9.2 months (281 days), from around 2 March to around 8 December, rarely starting before 5 February or after 25 March, and rarely ending before 13 November or after 1 January.

The month of May in Rome is reliably fully within the growing season.

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in May in Rome

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in May in Romegrowing seasongrowing seasongrowing seasonMay1 122 3344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50% 60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%Apr.Jun.100%16 May100%16 Mayvery coldcoldcoolcomfortablewarmhot

frigid -9°C freezing 0°C very cold 7°C cold 13°C cool 18°C comfortable 24°C warm 29°C hot 35°C sweltering

The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is within the growing season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 10°C and a cap of 30°C.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Rome are increasing during May, increasing by 231°C, from 241°C to 472°C, over the course of the month.

Solar Energy

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Rome is gradually increasing during May, rising by 1.0 kWh, from 6.2 kWh to 7.2 kWh, over the course of the month.

Topography

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Rome are 41.892 deg. latitude, 12.511 deg. longitude, and 52 m elevation.

The topography within 3 kilometres of Rome contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 76 metres and an average elevation above sea level of 46 metres. Within 16 kilometres contains only modest variations in elevation (286 metres). Within 80 kilometres contains very significant variations in elevation (2,472 metres).

The area within 3 kilometres of Rome is covered by artificial surfaces (97%), within 16 kilometres by cropland (54%) and artificial surfaces (43%), and within 80 kilometres by cropland (36%) and water (33%).

Data Sources

This report illustrates the typical weather in Rome, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

There are 3 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Rome.

For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Rome according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations.

The estimated value at Rome is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Rome and a given station.

The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:

  • Rome Urbe Airport (LIRU, 64%, 7 km, north, -36 m elevation change)
  • Roma Ciampino Airport (LIRA, 24%, 12 km, southeast, 78 m elevation change)
  • Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (LIRF, 11%, 24 km, southwest, -48 m elevation change)

To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Rome and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus.

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Disclaimer

The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site.

We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands.

We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader.

Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page.

Is Rome rainy in May?

What is this? The average temperature in Rome in May is 21C/69F with a range from 13C/55F to 24C/75F degrees. Usually you have about 7 days of rain in Rome in May and this tends to be heavy downpours rather than a drizzle.

What is the rainiest month in Rome?

The wettest month (with the highest rainfall) is November (115.4mm). The driest month (with the least rainfall) is July (19.2mm).

Does it rain a lot in Italy in May?

Italy Weather in May Summer is just around the corner, with this month bringing warmer temperatures, averaging 18°C earlier in the month and 21°C by May 31st. There's a little less rain too, with 72mm on average, and you're likely to enjoy a lot more bright sunny days, making those sunglasses an absolute must.

Is May a good time to visit Rome Italy?

The best times to go to Rome are during April (aside from Easter week), May, and September when the weather is warm but not too hot for visiting major outdoor attractions, like the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum.