MONTHLY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS LAVALE MD MAY 2002 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour Temp Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min at Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 68 42 54 .02 2 82 52 52 .58 F,T 3 62 34 36 4 64 29 39 .02 5 73 36 48 F 6 79 41 59 .01 7 71 56 58 .36 F,T 8 74 56 62 .42 F 9 70 60 63 .03 F,T 10 71 47 47 11 72 40 55 12 82 53 60 .36 T 13 74 49 49 .19 F 14 57 43 46 .09 T,DW 15 69 40 50 16 78 46 60 17 66 48 48 .35 18 54 40 40 .82 F 19 55 35 35 .04 20 54 32 35 F 21 54 31 36 22 68 30 41 23 78 35 50 24 82 46 60 .07 25 75 57 60 T 26 82 57 58 T 27 83 57 59 T F,T 28 81 57 60 .20 F,T 29 80 60 62 1.76 F,T 30 85 60 64 F 31 85 61 65 .07 F,T AVG 71.9 46.1 SUM 5.39 0.0 EXT 85 29 MAX 1.76 Date 31 4 DATE 29 Mean Monthly Temperature: 59.0 Mean Temp at Obs Time: 52.0 Number of days with: Fog: 13 Ice Pellets: 0 Glaze: 0 Thunder: 11 Hail: 0 Damaging Winds: 0 NOTES AND/OR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: 2nd: Several thunderstorms 3:30-7:30am, the heaviest around 5am with heavy rain/frequent lightning .56" rain fell. A brief shower late this afternoon and more storms just to the north 6-7pm with only a few sprinkles here. Total rain .58". 4th: A very chilly low 29F with a good frost. Sunshine warmed it up to 64F but became cloudy, much cooler & breezy late this afternoon with light rain 6-8pm just .02" fell. 7th: Thunderstorm noon-1pm with gusty winds and rain through 2pm. A brief shower around 5pm, total rain .36". Some patch fog developed late this evening. 8th: Foggy overnight, mostly cloudy, rain this afternoon 4-6pm and showers on and off all evening .42" fell by midnight with patchy dense fog late. 9th: Dense fog overnight with very heavy rains to N in PA 2-3" fell but none here. Same story today--numerous storm cells split as they approached the area and went to the north & south with just .03" rain from a storm that brushed by to the SE about 4pm. 12th: Several thunderstorms 3-6pm with some gusty winds but no real direct hits as the heaviest of the storms skirted just to the south again. Brief t-shower about 10:30pm, total .36". 13th: Forecasted heavy rains never materialized, just light rain 10am-2pm, heavier shower 6-7pm with gusty winds and rapidly falling temperatures. Total rain .19". 14th: A chilly, windy blustery day, brief thunderstorm about 3pm with wind gusts to 30mph, no damage here and only .03" rain but a lot of wind damage was reported around Cumberland as well as a lightning fire. Another shower with gusty winds about 6pm, total rain .09". 17th: Mostly cloudy and drizzly at times, moderate rain 9pm-midnight .35" fell by midnight. 18th: Rain overnight heavy at times another .82" fell before ending about 6am. A blustery day high only 54F with a few sprinkles and the low slipped to a chilly 40F by midnight. 19th: Another unseasonably cool and blustery day with a shower this evening 7-8pm .04" rain. 20th: Dense fog this morning with an unusual late season freezing low of 32F. 21st: Another exceptionally cold morning low of 31F with a light frost. 22nd: Yet again a record cold low of 30F this morning. However a warmer afternoon high of 68F. 23rd: Another cold morning but warmer yet this afternoon and sunny high 78F. 24th: Warm and increasingly cloudy with showers this evening 6-8pm .07" rain. 25th: Mild and mostly cloudy, humid, lightning and thunder from a storm to the south late this evening just before midnight... 26th: Thunder from storms to the south midnight-1am, a warm & humid day. No rain or storms here but some dark clouds this evening from severe thunderstorms to the south and east. BALTIMORE PIKE WASHED OUT 27th: Numerous thunderstorms developed all around this station literally in all four directions this afternoon but no direct hits, only a few sprinkles. Thunder was observed every hour from 1-7pm and a couple times was very close. A tremendous storm sat about 5 miles to the east between 5-7pm and dumped extremely heavy rain just east of Cumberland where severe flash flooding ravaged buildings and blocked I-68 and Baltimore Pike for nearly two hours. Four to five inches of rain was believed to have fallen in that area. 28th: Finally some thunderstorms this evening 7-8pm, no direct hits but a lot of lightning and thunder with mainly moderate rain, .20" fell. INTENSE STORM ANOTHER FLASH FLOOD 29th: Dense fog this morning. Became mostly sunny with moderate humidity. An intense surprise thunderstorm exploded directly overhead between 6-7pm. Torrential rain and frequent cloud- to-ground lightning. 1.50" fell in only 40 minutes and 1.76" in an hour caused flooding in the area especially around Corriganville where many roads and basements were flooded. Lightning also snapped a large tree a block from my station. The storm was very localized with locations within 2-3 miles east, south & west of this station reporting no rain. 31st: Some thunderstorms this evening 8-10pm, a fair amount of lightning & thunder but not much rain or wind, only .07" fell. COMMENTS ON MAY'S WEATHER: May 2002 saw some unseasonably cold weather, with sub-freezing low temperatures as late as the 22nd. That is almost unheard of to get frost and freeze so late in the season. There were four days with lows 32 or lower. Temperatures were below average with a chilly average low of 46.1F. The other story was numerous thunderstorms. Severe storms grazed the area on the 13th & 14th with damaging wind and hail in some places. On Memorial day the Baltimore Pike area was washed out with 4-5" of rain within two hours and severe flash flooding. Two days later an isolated storm cell dropped a quick 1.76" of rain in one hour at this station before inching north- northest into the Corriganville area and causing another flash flood. The precipitation total for May was 5.39", the 3rd consecutive above-average month. Additional notes/records 20: Record low 32 F 21: Record low 31 F. Also a record low max of 54 F 22: Record low 30 F 29: Daily rainfall record of 1.76" fell.