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May Weather in Salida Colorado, United States

Daily high temperatures increase by 10°F, from 64°F to 74°F, rarely falling below 51°F or exceeding 82°F.

Daily low temperatures increase by 8°F, from 36°F to 43°F, rarely falling below 28°F or exceeding 49°F.

For reference, on July 14, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Salida typically range from 53°F to 83°F, while on December 29, the coldest day of the year, they range from 15°F to 39°F.

Average High and Low Temperature in May in Salida

The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.

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.

Average Hourly Temperature in May in Salida

Average Hourly Temperature in May in SalidaMay112233445566778899101011111212131314141515161617171818191920202121222223232424252526262727282829293030313112 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMAprJunvery coldvery coldcoldcoolcoolcomfortablewarmfreezing
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

Hacıbektaş, Turkey (6,536 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Salida (view comparison).

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The month of May in Salida experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 42% to 36%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 43% on May 6.

The clearest day of the month is May 31, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 64% of the time.

For reference, on May 6, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 43%, while on September 28, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 77%.

Cloud Cover Categories in May in Salida

Cloud Cover Categories in May in SalidaMay11223344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%AprJunSep 2877%Sep 2877%May 158%May 158%May 3164%May 3164%May 1158%May 1158%May 2161%May 2161%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercast
0% clear 20% mostly clear 40% partly cloudy 60% mostly cloudy 80% overcast 100%
The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Salida, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 17% and ending it at 14%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 32% on August 9, and its lowest chance is 4% on January 12.

Over the course of May in Salida, the chance of a day with only rain remains an essentially constant 15% throughout, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain decreases from 2% to 0%, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 0% throughout.

Probability of Precipitation in May in Salida

The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

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 Salida is essentially constant, remaining about 0.8 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 1.9 inches or falling below 0.1 inches.

The highest average 31-day accumulation is 0.9 inches on May 4.

Average Monthly Rainfall in May in Salida

The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average snowfall.

Over the course of May in Salida, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 50 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 40 seconds, and weekly increase of 11 minutes, 42 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is May 1, with 13 hours, 50 minutes of daylight and the longest day is May 31, with 14 hours, 41 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in May in Salida

The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The latest sunrise of the month in Salida is 6:06 AM on May 1 and the earliest sunrise is 24 minutes earlier at 5:41 AM on May 31.

The earliest sunset is 7:56 PM on May 1 and the latest sunset is 26 minutes later at 8:22 PM on May 31.

Daylight saving time is observed in Salida during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during May, so the entire month is in standard time.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:39 AM and sets 14 hours, 52 minutes later, at 8:31 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:18 AM and sets 9 hours, 28 minutes later, at 4:46 PM.

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight in May in Salida

The solar day over the course of May. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray.

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 Salida

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in May in SalidaMay112233445566778899101011111212131314141515161617171818191920202121222223232424252526262727282829293030313112 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMAprJun001010202020303040405050506060700001010202030303040405050606070
northeastsouthwest
Solar elevation and azimuth over the course of May 2024. 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).

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.

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in May in Salida

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in May in SalidaMay112233445566778899101011111212131314141515161617171818191920202121222223232424252526262727282829293030313112 AM12 AM4 AM4 AM8 AM8 AM12 PM12 PM4 PM4 PM8 PM8 PM12 AM12 AMAprJunApr 812:22 PMApr 812:22 PMApr 235:50 PMApr 235:50 PMMay 79:23 PMMay 79:23 PMMay 237:54 AMMay 237:54 AMJun 66:38 AMJun 66:38 AMJun 217:09 PMJun 217:09 PM6:33 AM6:33 AM7:53 PM7:53 PM7:52 PM7:52 PM6:25 AM6:25 AM5:28 AM5:28 AM7:59 PM7:59 PM7:50 PM7:50 PM5:28 AM5:28 AM5:21 AM5:21 AM9:16 PM9:16 PM8:52 PM8:52 PM5:50 AM5:50 AM
The time in which the moon is above the horizon (light blue area), with new moons (dark gray lines) and full moons (blue lines) indicated. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.
May 2024IlluminationMoonriseMoonsetMoonriseMeridian PassingDistance
1
50%2:36 AMESE12:32 PMWSW-7:34 AMS231,955 mi
2
38%3:10 AMESE1:46 PMWSW-8:28 AMS229,647 mi
3
26%3:39 AMESE3:00 PMW-9:18 AMS227,697 mi
4
16%4:06 AME4:13 PMW-10:08 AMS226,309 mi
5
8%4:32 AME5:27 PMW-10:57 AMS225,680 mi
6
3%4:58 AMENE6:43 PMWNW-11:47 AMS225,961 mi
7
0%5:28 AMENE7:59 PMWNW-12:39 PMS227,216 mi
8
1%6:02 AMENE9:16 PMWNW-1:35 PMS229,397 mi
9
4%6:44 AMENE10:29 PMNW-2:33 PMS232,338 mi
10
10%7:33 AMNE11:34 PMNW-3:32 PMS235,783 mi
11
17%8:30 AMNE--4:31 PMS239,419 mi
12
26%-12:28 AMNW9:33 AMNE5:26 PMS242,932 mi
13
36%-1:12 AMWNW10:38 AMENE6:17 PMS246,046 mi
14
46%-1:47 AMWNW11:43 AMENE7:03 PMS248,551 mi
15
50%-2:16 AMWNW12:45 PMENE7:46 PMS250,308 mi
16
65%-2:40 AMWNW1:45 PMENE8:26 PMS251,253 mi
17
74%-3:02 AMW2:44 PME9:05 PMS251,389 mi
18
82%-3:22 AMW3:42 PME9:44 PMS250,779 mi
19
89%-3:43 AMW4:40 PME10:23 PMS249,532 mi
20
94%-4:04 AMWSW5:41 PMESE11:05 PMS247,785 mi
21
98%-4:27 AMWSW6:44 PMESE11:50 PMS245,694 mi
22
99%-4:55 AMWSW7:50 PMESE--
23
100%-5:28 AMWSW8:57 PMSE12:39 AMS243,415 mi
24
99%-6:10 AMSW10:02 PMSE1:33 AMS241,088 mi
25
97%-7:01 AMSW11:02 PMSE2:31 AMS238,827 mi
26
91%-8:02 AMSW11:53 PMSE3:32 AMS236,711 mi
27
84%-9:10 AMWSW-4:32 AMS234,785 mi
28
75%12:36 AMESE10:23 AMWSW-5:30 AMS233,071 mi
29
64%1:12 AMESE11:36 AMWSW-6:24 AMS231,582 mi
30
50%1:42 AMESE12:49 PMWSW-7:15 AMS230,342 mi
31
40%2:09 AME2:00 PMW-8:03 AMS229,404 mi

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 Salida is essentially constant during May, remaining around 0% throughout.

Humidity Comfort Levels in May in Salida

Humidity Comfort Levels in May in SalidaMay11223344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70%70%80%80%90%90%100%100%AprJunMay 160%May 160%May 10%May 10%May 310%May 310%drydry
dry 55°F comfortable 60°F humid 65°F muggy 70°F oppressive 75°F miserable
The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point.

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 in Salida is decreasing during May, decreasing from 9.7 miles per hour to 8.6 miles per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on April 3, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.5 miles per hour, while on August 11, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.6 miles per hour.

Average Wind Speed in May in Salida

The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The hourly average wind direction in Salida throughout May is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 66% on May 1.

Wind Direction in May in Salida

Wind Direction in May in SalidaMay11223344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0%AprJunwestsoutheastnorth
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 1.0 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

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 in Salida typically lasts for 4.5 months (140 days), from around May 12 to around September 29, rarely starting before April 25 or after May 30, and rarely ending before September 10 or after October 19.

During May in Salida, the chance that a given day is within the growing season is very rapidly increasing rising from 22% to 91% over the course of the month.

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

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in May in Salidagrowing seasonMay11223344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%AprJunMay 122%May 122%91%May 3191%May 31May 1147%May 1147%73%May 2173%May 21freezingvery coldcoldcoolcomfortablewarmhot
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F 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 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Salida are increasing during May, increasing by 210°F, from 134°F to 344°F, over the course of the month.

Growing Degree Days in May in Salida

The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of May, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

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 Salida is gradually increasing during May, rising by 0.9 kWh, from 6.9 kWh to 7.9 kWh, over the course of the month.

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in May in Salida

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in May in SalidaMay11223344556677889910101111121213131414151516161717181819192020212122222323242425252626272728282929303031310 kWh0 kWh1 kWh1 kWh2 kWh2 kWh3 kWh3 kWh4 kWh4 kWh5 kWh5 kWh6 kWh6 kWh7 kWh7 kWh8 kWh8 kWh9 kWh9 kWh10 kWh10 kWhAprJunMay 16.9 kWhMay 16.9 kWhMay 317.9 kWhMay 317.9 kWhMay 117.2 kWhMay 117.2 kWhMay 217.6 kWhMay 217.6 kWh
The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Salida are 38.535 deg latitude, -105.999 deg longitude, and 7,083 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Salida contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,188 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 7,249 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (5,712 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (9,262 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Salida is covered by shrubs (55%), cropland (18%), and trees (13%), within 10 miles by trees (57%) and shrubs (34%), and within 50 miles by trees (42%) and shrubs (36%).

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

Temperature and Dew Point

There is only a single weather station, Harriet Alexander Field Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Salida.

At a distance of 4 kilometers from Salida, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records.

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

Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis.

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.

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