May in Palm Springs, CA: shoulder season for golf — playable with smart tee time selection. Best tee times: tee off before 8 AM to beat the heat.
| Average May Weather | |
|---|---|
| Avg daily high | 93°F |
| Avg daily low | 68°F |
| Rainy days | 0 / mo |
| Avg peak wind | 11.4 mph |
May sits at a crossroads in Palm Springs — the desert heat is building fast, but the conditions that will make June genuinely difficult haven't fully arrived yet. Highs reach 93°F, which already pushes past the 80°F comfort ceiling for most golfers, yet early morning temperatures near the daily low of 68°F give you a reasonable window before the heat builds. There are zero precipitation days on record for May, so rain will not factor into your planning at all.
The 25°F daily swing matters more here than it might elsewhere. Early-morning rounds benefit from temperatures closer to the 68°F low; by midday you're in a different round entirely. May is also the windiest month of the year in Palm Springs at 11.4 mph peak — not severe, but enough to affect shot shape on exposed layouts like the ones along the valley floor.
Book the earliest available tee time — 6 AM if the course allows — since early-morning rounds benefit from temperatures closer to the 68°F daily low before the 93°F high takes hold. Same-week availability is rarely a problem in May as seasonal crowds thin, but morning slots still move faster than afternoon ones. See how conditions rate hour by hour on our playability scale.
Coming out of April, May delivers an 8°F jump in average high (85°F to 93°F) and loses the one remaining precipitation day, so the course is reliably dry but noticeably hotter from the first tee. Moving into June, the high climbs another 8°F to 101°F and the low rises to 77°F, eliminating the cool-morning buffer that still makes May manageable. May's peak wind actually edges June by 0.2 mph, so the transition to summer brings slightly calmer but far hotter air.
Climate normals show the long-term picture, but day-to-day weather varies. Check today's live golf weather score for Palm Springs, CA for the current playability rating, hourly wind, temperature, and the recommended tee time window.
← April in Palm Springs, CA • June in Palm Springs, CA →
At a 93°F average high, May is past the ideal temperature range for comfortable midday golf, but it is not the extreme heat of summer. Early tee times put you on the course when temperatures are closer to the 68°F daily low, which is workable before the heat builds. June's 101°F high is where most golfers draw the line, so May still offers a functional early-morning window that disappears the following month.
May is technically the windiest month of the year in Palm Springs, with a peak wind of 11.4 mph — about 1 mph higher than April and 0.2 mph higher than June. At 11.4 mph that falls in the moderate category and will affect ball flight, particularly on the open, tree-sparse courses typical of the Coachella Valley. As a general desert pattern, wind tends to be lighter in the early morning, though the 11.4 mph figure represents the peak for the month.