May Weather at Nelson Airport New Zealand

Daily high temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 62°F to 56°F, rarely falling below 52°F or exceeding 66°F.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 48°F to 43°F, rarely falling below 36°F or exceeding 56°F.

For reference, on January 29, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Nelson Airport typically range from 59°F to 72°F, while on July 12, the coldest day of the year, they range from 39°F to 53°F.

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.

Arrifana, Portugal (12,357 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Nelson Airport (view comparison).

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The month of May at Nelson Airport experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 40% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is May 2, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 61% of the time.

For reference, on December 14, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 46%, while on March 4, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 68%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Nelson Airport, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is increasing, starting the month at 26% and ending it at 31%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 33% on October 8, and its lowest chance is 19% on February 11.

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 at Nelson Airport is gradually increasing, starting the month at 2.9 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.5 inches or falls below 0.9 inches, and ending the month at 3.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.6 inches or falls below 1.2 inches.

Over the course of May at Nelson Airport, the length of the day is decreasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day decreases by 55 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 1 minute, 50 seconds, and weekly decrease of 12 minutes, 48 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is May 31, with 9 hours, 24 minutes of daylight and the longest day is May 1, with 10 hours, 19 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month at Nelson Airport is 7:14 AM on May 1 and the latest sunrise is 28 minutes later at 7:42 AM on May 31.

The latest sunset is 5:33 PM on May 1 and the earliest sunset is 27 minutes earlier at 5:06 PM on May 31.

Daylight saving time is observed at Nelson Airport during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during May, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.

For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:50 AM and sets 15 hours, 10 minutes later, at 9:00 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:52 AM and sets 9 hours, 11 minutes later, at 5:04 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.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for May 2024. 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.

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 at Nelson Airport is essentially constant during May, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on February 5, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 6% of the time, while on May 6, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters 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 at Nelson Airport is essentially constant during May, remaining within 0.2 miles per hour of 6.2 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on October 7, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.9 miles per hour, while on February 11, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.7 miles per hour.

The highest daily average wind speed during May is 6.4 miles per hour on May 27.

The hourly average wind direction at Nelson Airport throughout May is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 48% on May 20.

Nelson Airport 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 at Nelson Airport is gradually decreasing during May, falling by 3°F, from 61°F to 57°F, over the course of the month.

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 (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season at Nelson Airport typically lasts for 11 months (340 days), from around July 19 to around June 24, rarely starting after August 22, or ending before May 27.

The month of May at Nelson Airport is more likely than not fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season decreasing from 100% to 86% over the course of the month.

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 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days at Nelson Airport are gradually increasing during May, increasing by 106°F, from 2,412°F to 2,518°F, over the course of the month.

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 at Nelson Airport is gradually decreasing during May, falling by 0.9 kWh, from 2.8 kWh to 1.9 kWh, over the course of the month.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Nelson Airport are -41.297 deg latitude, 173.224 deg longitude, and 13 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Nelson Airport contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 607 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 62 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (4,173 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (7,080 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Nelson Airport is covered by water (54%) and grassland (41%), within 10 miles by water (39%) and trees (38%), and within 50 miles by trees (44%) and water (30%).