Memphis weather in May

Memphis-forum threads call May the better of the spring months for weather, though posters are candid that early spring rain can still be running when the month starts, usually clearing up by late May - which can then tip toward genuinely hot rather quickly. The rain itself comes in bursts, a quick downpour then clear skies again, not long soaking days. Humidity sits around 60-70 percent, noticeable but a step below full summer. May also means the Memphis in May festival month - Beale Street Music Festival the first weekend, then the barbecue contest and the Sunset Symphony - so hotels run busy on those weekends specifically. The record: 27.5C days feeling like 29C, 17.3C nights, 109mm of rain across 8.7 days and 10.5 hours of sun.

Regulars call this month genuinely iffy, especially early on, with even late March capable of a shorts-weather day followed immediately by one needing a real jacket. Our row backs the wet, changeable read, a substantial 170.3mm of rain across 10.3 days, alongside mild-cool temperatures, 18.6C over 7.8C nights feeling 5C, and a trace of leftover snow, 0.4cm. This month also sits at the start of the region's severe weather season, when the risk of strong thunderstorms and tornadoes climbs noticeably compared with winter - worth checking local watches and warnings during a visit rather than treating a storm forecast as routine background noise. The record: humidity 69 percent, 7.8 hours of sun, a 19.5 kph wind and AQI 40.

Regulars give November here as highs in the sixties and lows in the forties, and their packing verdict is precise: no heavy coat, a jacket for the evening. Our 17.5C over 6.3C matches, though the felt figures are 16C and 3C in a 16.7 kph wind. They also describe the month as neither particularly rainy nor particularly sunny, which our row bears out - 82mm across 6.3 days and 7.3 hours of sun inside 10.3 of daylight, the shortest days this city has had since winter. Beale Street has music every night and fills at weekends, which is the only crowd calendar the month has. The record: humidity 70 percent and AQI 33.

September here is two months in one and regulars are precise about the join. The first half is still summer - upper eighties and humid, with the humidity doing the damage rather than the heat - and it is not until the very end of the month that the warmth eases enough to be comfortable outdoors. Mid-to-late September is some of the best weather of the Memphis year, though it can also stay summery into the nineties. Our row averages 30.5C reading as 33C over 20C nights, with 71.8mm across only 5.2 days. September and October together are what they recommend. The record: humidity 68 percent, 10.3 hours of sun and AQI 48.

Memphis forum threads describe January as genuinely mixed, with a typical high cited around 50F and low near 30F, but posters estimating roughly a one-in-three chance of landing a mild, pleasant stretch instead of the colder default. Real snow was described as rare, maybe once a year and usually light, with rain and simply cold days being far more common than any accumulation. Posters were positive about January as a visit month regardless - the restaurant and entertainment scene runs normally aside from the absence of rooftop and block parties, and major draws like Graceland stay open through the month. The consistent packing advice was real layers to handle the day-to-day swing between cold snaps and milder days.