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Typical May weather

Hilton Head Island

South Carolina · May

The water turns swimmable and the season properly begins.

84° days
64° nights

about 5 rainy days · 14 hours of daylight · ocean 75°

What to pack

What May feels like

May is the driest month of the year here. It is also when the loggerheads start coming ashore at night to nest, which is why the oceanfront lights get shielded from now until autumn and why nobody leaves a beach chair out overnight.

Expect about 5 days with real rain — enough to notice, not enough to plan around. There’s a little humidity in the air, but nothing that changes your plans. about 6 afternoons top 90°.

Can you swim?

The ocean runs about 75° — comfortable for swimming.

The numbers

Typical high84°
Typical low64°
Days with real rain5
Total rain2.5 in
Humiditya touch humid
Water temperature75°
Sunrise / sunset (mid-month)6:24 am / 8:13 pm

How May compares

See the whole year in Hilton Head Island ›