May Weather in Gillingham United Kingdom

Daily high temperatures increase by 5°F, from 58°F to 64°F, rarely falling below 50°F or exceeding 72°F.

Daily low temperatures increase by 6°F, from 45°F to 50°F, rarely falling below 38°F or exceeding 56°F.

For reference, on August 5, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Gillingham typically range from 58°F to 72°F, while on February 7, the coldest day of the year, they range from 37°F to 45°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.

Point Roberts, United States (4,754 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Gillingham (view comparison).

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The month of May in Gillingham experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 52% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is May 31, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 49% of the time.

For reference, on December 26, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 69%, while on July 14, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 59%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Gillingham, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is increasing, starting the month at 20% and ending it at 24%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 32% on October 29, and its lowest chance is 19% on April 27.

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 Gillingham is gradually increasing, starting the month at 1.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.3 inches or falls below 0.3 inches, and ending the month at 1.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.7 inches or falls below 0.5 inches.

Over the course of May in Gillingham, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 25 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 2 minutes, 50 seconds, and weekly increase of 19 minutes, 48 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is May 1, with 14 hours, 52 minutes of daylight and the longest day is May 31, with 16 hours, 17 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the month in Gillingham is 5:29 AM on May 1 and the earliest sunrise is 42 minutes earlier at 4:47 AM on May 31.

The earliest sunset is 8:21 PM on May 1 and the latest sunset is 43 minutes later at 9:04 PM on May 31.

Daylight saving time is observed in Gillingham 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 4:40 AM and sets 16 hours, 37 minutes later, at 9:18 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:00 AM and sets 7 hours, 51 minutes later, at 3:51 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 in Gillingham is essentially constant during May, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on August 9, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 1% of the time, while on January 1, 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 in Gillingham is gradually decreasing during May, decreasing from 11.5 miles per hour to 10.5 miles per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on January 3, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 14.9 miles per hour, while on July 26, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.1 miles per hour.

The wind direction in Gillingham during May is predominantly out of the north from May 1 to May 6 and the west from May 6 to May 31.

Gillingham 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 Gillingham is increasing during May, rising by 5°F, from 50°F to 55°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 in Gillingham typically lasts for 8.2 months (252 days), from around March 21 to around November 28, rarely starting before February 15 or after April 22, and rarely ending before November 2 or after December 22.

The month of May in Gillingham is very likely fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season gradually increasing from 96% to 100% 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 in Gillingham are gradually increasing during May, increasing by 164°F, from 105°F to 269°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 in Gillingham is gradually increasing during May, rising by 0.8 kWh, from 5.3 kWh to 6.1 kWh, over the course of the month.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Gillingham are 51.389 deg latitude, 0.549 deg longitude, and 102 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Gillingham contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 354 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 88 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (738 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,030 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Gillingham is covered by artificial surfaces (59%) and water (25%), within 10 miles by cropland (30%) and grassland (22%), and within 50 miles by cropland (30%) and water (28%).