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Photo by King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Washington DC in May
good · a good time to go · the wettest month of the year
The year in Washington DC
Tap a month for its page
- JanJWashington DC in January: ok
- FebFWashington DC in February: ok
- MarMWashington DC in March: good
- AprAWashington DC in April: sweet spot
- MayMWashington DC in May: good
- JunJWashington DC in June: sweet spot
- JulJWashington DC in July: sweet spot
- AugAWashington DC in August: good, busy
- SepSWashington DC in September: sweet spot
- OctOWashington DC in October: good
- NovNWashington DC in November: ok
- DecDWashington DC in December: ok, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
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Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
The numbers
| Daily high | 24°C |
|---|---|
| Nightly low | 13°C |
| Feels like, afternoon | 24°C |
| Rainy days, 1 mm or more | 12 · 144 mm |
| Humidity | 70% |
| Sunshine | 9.6 h/day |
| Daylight | 14.3 h/day |
| Days over 35°C | 0 |
| Crowds | 74 / 100, higher is quieter |
Ten-year averages for this calendar month. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts it. The model these figures come from drizzles more than a rain gauge, the more so the warmer the month, so its days count from 2 mm, rising to 5 mm in the hottest.
How busy it gets
Public holidays in May
Holidays crowd a place out and push fares up around them; they count toward the crowd score above.
What May is known for
- Peak season — Spring sees blooming flowers and mild weather, leading to high tourist numbers and prices.
Written by a language model from the climate figures; the numbers above are measured and win where the two disagree.
Washington DC in pictures
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G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What to pack
- A packable rain jacket for the 12 or so rainy days.
- Sun protection: about 10 hours of sunshine a day.
Each line is a threshold over the ten-year figures above, not advice from anywhere else.
Before you go
Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
On arrival in Washington DC: the apps, paying, getting around, tipping and the emergency numbers.
May elsewhere
In May from
The other months at Washington DC
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