Average Sunshine in Switzerland for May

The tables below give May averages for the number of sunny hours and the percentage of time between sunrise and sunset that the sun shines at cities, resorts and mountains across Switzerland.

The month's totals are averages 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.

Total May sunshine
Hours Place %
164 Chasseral 36
178 Evolène 48
212 Geneva (Genève) 50
158 Great St Bernard Pass  40
171 La Chaux-de-Fonds  40
213 Lausanne 49
199 Montana 49
208 Neuchâel (Neuenburg) 48
214 Nyon 50
208 Payerne 47
229 Sion (Sitten) 56
155 Zermatt 54

Central & Northern Switzerland

While most places on this list are below 1000 metres (3280 feet) elevation, there are some mountainous locations. Säntis, near Schwägalp, at 2502 metres (8209 feet) elevation is the highest point in the Appenzell Alps. Even higher is the weather station at 3580 metres (11,745 feet), above Jungfraujoch pass of the Bernese Alps.

Average amount of sun in May
Hours Place %
181 Aarau 43
155 Adelboden 43
186 Basel 44
197 Bern (Bären) 45
147 Engelberg 42
162 Gütsch 39
201 Güttingen 45
183 Interlaken 44
152 Jungfraujoch 37
173 Lucerne (Luzern) 40
152 Mount Pilatus 35
163 Säntis 36
182 Schaffhausen 46
186 St. Gallen 42
198 Wädenswil 44
192 Zürich 45

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).

Average May sun
Hours Place %
155 Arosa 39
174 Chur 49
201 Cimetta 46
154 Davos 45
149 Disentis (Mustér) 39
156 Glarus 45
210 Locarno 51
200 Lugano 51
173 Piz Corvatsch  39
164 Samedan 48
128 San Bernardino 40
176 Scuol 44
201 Stabio 48
168 Weissfluhjoch 39
Reference

Swiss federal authorities. Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss. Normal values per measured parameter.

Switzerland Sunshine
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