By Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Retired
I feel like I’m sounding like a broken record, for those who remember what that sounded like. For the ninth consecutive month, area temperatures were above average. Fortunately, for much of the region, rainfall was at, or slightly above average. The average daily high for May was 77.2, 2.0 degrees above average. The average overnight low was 55.2, 1.2 degrees above normal. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 66.2, 1.5 degrees above the long term average.
The highest temperature for the month was 91 degrees on both the 15th and 16th. The coldest temperature for the month was the morning low of 39 on May 1st. There were two temperature records set and one record tied during May. The high of 91 on the 15th broke the old record of 89 set in 2001 and reached again in 2017. The high of 91 on the 16th tied the record high for that date first reached in 1951 and then again in 1964. The overnight low of 70 on the 15th broke the record high low temperature for that date. The old record was 68 set in 1962 and again in 2001. Fortunately, by being just 1.5 degrees above average it wasn’t a record setting month.
The hottest May was in 1962 with a monthly mean temperature of 74.3. The coldest May was in 1995 with a chilly monthly mean temperature of 57.8 degrees. The average temperature for the nine month period of September through May is 47.5 degrees. The average temperature for the past nine months was 52.5, 5.0 degrees above the long term mean.
May is historically our wettest month of the year with average rainfall for the month of 5.14 degrees. Rainfall at the Milford Lake Corps of Engineers office came in a little bit above that with 5.78 inches. Year to date we have received 12.09 inches of precipitation, just a smidge under the average of 12.12 inches through the first five months of the year. Our driest May was in 2009 when only 0.86 inches of rain was received. Our wettest May is also our wettest all time month. May of 1995 saw 17.23 inches of rain flooding, literally, the region!
June brings us the start of meteorological summer on the 1st and the start of astronomical summer on the 21st. June is our second wettest month of the year with average rainfall of 4.84 inches. Daily highs in June range from 81 on the 1st to nearly 90 on the 30th. Overnight lows range from 60 at the start of the month increasing to 68 by the end of the month.