By Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Retired
From a weather historian’s point of view, the weather for May 2024 was sort of boring. The temperatures were a little above normal. The rainfall was a little above normal, and there were no temperature extremes. From a local resident’s point of view, May was wonderful! The average daily high for May was 76.2, 1 degree above normal. The average overnight low was 56.6, 2.5 degrees above normal. This gave us a monthly mean temperature of 66.4, 1.7 degrees above normal. With the exception of January, every month this year has had above average temperatures.
The highest temperature for the month was 87 degrees on the 18th. The lowest temperature for the month was 47 on the mornings of May 4th and 7th. There were no temperature records set or tied during May. The hottest May on record was in 1962 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 74.3. The coldest May on record was in 1995 with a monthly mean temperature of 57.8. With May behind us we are safely past the chance of any more freezing temperatures until fall. That means our last freeze this spring was the 20 degree reading on the morning of March 27th. This is the earliest last spring freeze since 2012 when it occurred on March 11th. Our long-term average last spring freeze is April 14th.
Periodic rains through May were a nice change. May is our wettest month of the year with long term average rainfall of 5.14 inches. May of 2024 recorded 5.35 inches, just slightly above normal. Year to date, through May, we have received 12.52 inches of precipitation, just slightly above the long-term average of 12.12 inches.
The wettest May on record was in 1996 when 17.23 inches deluged area rain gauges. The driest May on record was in 2009 when only 0.86 inches was recorded. May 2009 was the only May with less than 1 inch of rainfall going back to 1931!
June will bring the official start of summer, generally warmer temperatures and slightly less rainfall. Average June rainfall is 4.84 inches. Daily highs in June range from 81 on the 1st to 90 on the 30th. Average overnight lows start the month at 60 and by the end of the month have risen to 68 degrees.