Des Moines Sea Temperature in May

Looking to find out what the average sea water temperature in Des Moines is for May? Find out what the lowest, highest, and average water temperatures are for Des Moines over the past 10 years.

Average water temperature in Des Moines for May

The average, high, and low temperatures below should help you if you can swim in the water in Des Moines in May.

9.77° C

(49.58° F)

  • highest: 11.69° C (53.04° F)
  • lowest: 8.22° C (46.8° F)

This water is very cold and can cause pain. We don't recommend you swim in this temperature for anything other than very short swims of 5 to 10 minutes unless you are a very experienced cold water swimmer.

Water temperature range by day in May in Des Moines

The chart below shows the range of low and high temperatures by day for the month of May in Des Moines.

Water temperatures for May in Des Moines in recent years

Day 2024 2023 2022 2021
1 9.37° C 9.15° C 9.51° C 8.51° C
2 9.62° C 9.11° C 9.44° C 8.59° C
3 9.92° C 9.42° C 9.18° C 8.63° C
4 0° C 9.61° C 9.29° C 8.76° C
5 0° C 9.57° C 9.25° C 9.02° C
6 0° C 9.52° C 9.15° C 9.3° C
7 0° C 9.69° C 9.18° C 9.36° C
8 0° C 9.63° C 9.22° C 9.34° C
9 0° C 9.52° C 9.34° C 9.38° C
10 0° C 9.67° C 9.41° C 9.51° C
11 0° C 9.65° C 9.41° C 9.57° C
12 0° C 9.82° C 9.78° C 9.49° C
13 0° C 10.3° C 9.32° C 9.4° C
14 0° C 10.97° C 9.52° C 9.2° C
15 0° C 11.19° C 9.68° C 9.2° C
16 0° C 11.29° C 10.34° C 9.32° C
17 0° C 10.84° C 9.89° C 9.26° C
18 0° C 10.88° C 9.97° C 9.15° C
19 0° C 11.08° C 9.92° C 9.16° C
20 0° C 11.07° C 10.04° C 9.35° C
21 0° C 10.72° C 10.13° C 9.49° C
22 0° C 10.56° C 10.08° C 9.62° C
23 0° C 10.5° C 10° C 9.83° C
24 0° C 10.65° C 9.96° C 9.84° C
25 0° C 10.79° C 9.82° C 9.79° C
26 0° C 11.1° C 9.56° C 9.64° C
27 0° C 10.95° C 9.9° C 9.5° C
28 0° C 10.89° C 9.97° C 9.22° C
29 0° C 10.9° C 9.79° C 9.22° C
30 0° C 10.71° C 9.75° C 9.23° C
31 0° C 10.58° C 10.85° C 9.3° C

Water temperature in May for locations near Des Moines

Federal Way

United States, North America

5.52 miles away

Maplewood

United States, North America

10.83 miles away

Southworth

United States, North America

11.25 miles away

Tacoma

United States, North America

11.72 miles away

Gig Harbor

United States, North America

12.98 miles away

Alki Beach

United States, North America

12.99 miles away

Data source and citation

Raw data for the calculations made to find the sea surface temperature in Des Moines comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their 1/4° daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature.

The water temperature data is constructed by combining observations from different platforms (satellites, ships, buoys, and Argo floats) on a regular global grid. A spatially complete sea surface temperature map is then built by interpolating to fill in gaps in the data.

If you'd like to use any of the information above in the format it is presented, please use the citation tool below.

  • "Des Moines Sea Temperature in May". SeaTemperatures.net. Accessed on May 5, 2024. http://seatemperatures.net/north-america/united-states/des-moines-may-temperature/.

  • "Des Moines Sea Temperature in May". SeaTemperatures.net, http://seatemperatures.net/north-america/united-states/des-moines-may-temperature/. Accessed 5 May, 2024

  • Des Moines Sea Temperature in May. SeaTemperatures.net. Retrieved from http://seatemperatures.net/north-america/united-states/des-moines-may-temperature/.