Average Precipitation for Switzerland in May
The tables below give monthly averages for rainfall plus snowfall during May at cities, resorts and mountains in Switzerland. Each place has a total for how many days of wet weather it usually gets this month and for the normal amount of precipitation.
The calculation of days only includes the days when precipitation totalled at least one millimetre (0.04 inches).
The month's total precipitation is an average of weather data collected during 1991 to 2020.
Western Switzerland
This section covers the mainly French speaking portion of Switzerland. It includes the area around Lake Geneva and the cantons of Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais and Vaud.
Some of the weather stations are at high elevations in the Valais (or Pennine) Alps of southwestern Switzerland. Great St. Bernard Pass (Col du Grand St-Bernard) is the highest point on this list at 2472 metres (8110 feet). Also above 1400 metres (or 4600 feet) are Chasseral mountain and the resort towns of Zermatt and Montana.
| Days | Place | Inches | Millimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Chasseral | 5.3 | 134 |
| 11 | Evolène | 3.2 | 81 |
| 12 | Fribourg | 4.2 | 108 |
| 10 | Geneva (Genève) | 3.1 | 79 |
| 9 | Grächen | 2.7 | 69 |
| 15 | Great St Bernard Pass | 8.1 | 207 |
| 14 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 5.2 | 131 |
| 12 | Lausanne | 4.4 | 113 |
| 10 | Montana | 3.1 | 78 |
| 11 | Neuchâel (Neuenburg) | 3.4 | 87 |
| 11 | Nyon | 3.4 | 86 |
| 11 | Payerne | 3.4 | 85 |
| 8 | Sion (Sitten) | 2.0 | 52 |
| 10 | Zermatt | 3.0 | 77 |
Central & Northern Switzerland
Most places on this list are below 1000 metres (3280 feet) elevation where the weather is relatively mild. Somewhat snowier are the ski resort villages of Adelboden in the Bernese Oberland and Engelberg in Obwalden canton.
Even more precipitation falls on the mountain peak Säntis, near Schwägalp. At 2502 metres (8209 feet) elevation it's the highest point in the Appenzell Alps.
| Days | Place | Inches | Millimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Aarau | 3.9 | 99 |
| 14 | Adelboden | 5.3 | 135 |
| 12 | Basel | 3.8 | 98 |
| 12 | Bern (Bären) | 4.4 | 112 |
| 15 | Engelberg | 6.5 | 166 |
| 13 | Gütsch | 5.2 | 132 |
| 11 | Güttingen | 3.9 | 100 |
| 13 | Interlaken | 4.8 | 122 |
| 13 | Lucerne (Luzern) | 5.9 | 149 |
| 15 | Mount Pilatus | 6.0 | 153 |
| 15 | Säntis | 8.8 | 224 |
| 11 | Schaffhausen | 3.9 | 100 |
| 14 | St. Gallen | 6.2 | 157 |
| 13 | Wädenswil | 5.5 | 140 |
| 12 | Zürich | 5.0 | 128 |
Eastern Switzerland
This list includes two low-elevation cities, Locarno and Lugano, in the canton of Ticino of south-east Switzerland.
Several places here in the canton of Graubünden are mountain resort towns, including Davos, Scuol and Samedan, which sit above 1500 metres (4921 feet) elevation.
High-altitude locations include Gütsch located above Andermatt at 2286 m. On Weissfluhjoch, a peak in the Plessur Range above Davos, weather is reported from just below the summit, at 2690 metres (8825 feet) elevation. On Piz Corvatsch, near Silvaplana in the Bernina Range, the weather is measured at 3305 metres (10,843 feet).
| Days | Place | Inches | Millimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Arosa | 3.8 | 97 |
| 10 | Chur | 2.8 | 70 |
| 12 | Cimetta | 7.1 | 179 |
| 12 | Davos | 3.5 | 89 |
| 12 | Disentis (Mustér) | 4.3 | 110 |
| 14 | Glarus | 5.2 | 132 |
| 11 | Locarno | 7.5 | 190 |
| 12 | Lugano | 7.0 | 178 |
| 14 | Piz Corvatsch | 5.2 | 132 |
| 9 | Samedan | 2.6 | 67 |
| 14 | San Bernardino | 6.6 | 168 |
| 9 | Scuol | 2.1 | 53 |
| 11 | Stabio | 6.8 | 172 |
| 14 | Weissfluhjoch | 4.6 | 116 |
Reference
Swiss federal authorities. Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss. Normal values per measured parameter.