MONTHLY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS LAVALE MD MAY 2003 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Observations for this month taken by Steve and Sara Mullins David Drewery filled in 5/8 through 5/12 Note this station uses daylight savings time when it applies. 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 80 48 .19 T 2 77 56 3 68 46 .07 4 61 46 .28 F 5 57 42 .70 F 6 67 40 T 7 78 56 .08 T 8 71 56 .23 T 9 62 56 .75 F,T 10 70 60 .77 F,T 11 85 60 F 12 57 47 .28 F 13 59 45 .04 F 14 76 40 15 58 45 .46 F 16 53 50 .92 F 17 50 47 .16 F 18 54 46 .17 F 19 80 42 F 20 76 46 T F 21 57 52 .10 F 22 51 46 .09 F 23 55 52 .27 F 24 70 52 .20 F 25 72 52 .11 26 65 60 .76 27 63 49 .32 F,T 28 68 50 .21 F 29 60 48 30 77 54 31 60 55 .98 T AVG 65.7 49.8 SUM 8.14 0.0 N/A EXT 85 40 MAX 0.98 - 0 Date 11 14+ DATE 31 - - +=Also occurred on earlier dates. Miscellaneous Stats: Mean Monthly Temperature: 57.8 F Year Precipitation to Date: 22.28" Season Snowfall to Date: 67.3" Number of days with: Fog: 19 Ice Pellets: 0 Glaze: 0 Thunder: 7 Hail: 0 Damaging Winds: 0 NOTES AND/OR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: 1st: Variable clouds. Showers with some thunder this afternoon and evening, total rain .12" 3rd: Variable clouds, light rain late this evening .07" fell by midnight 4th: Rain overnight another .28" fell along with fog. A cool high of 61 F with variable clouds 5th: Rain began @ 5:30am and was moderate to heavy through the morning. Cloudy this afternoon with a few sprinkles. Total rain .70" for the day. SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS 7th: Varying amounts of clouds. Shower with thunder this afternoon. Light showers this evening for a .08" total. 8th: Some thunderstorms this morning 8am-11am .23" fell. Most of the direct hits went north & south of the station where very heavy rains fell. Variable clouds this afternoon. 9th: Fog overnight and early this morning. Thunderstorms with heavy downpours and frequent lightning this morning 9-11am. More showers through 1pm, total .90", cool high 61 F. 10th: Fog again overnight. Another round of morning thunderstorms with heavy rains and frequent lightning began @ 7:45am. Rain tapered to light showers by 10am. Total .77" fell today. 11th: AM Fog. Became warm & sunny with strong W winds gusting to 35 mph this afternoon. 12th: Cloudy, cool & breezy. Light rain and drizzle began this afternoon about 2pm. Steady rain through most of the evening .28" fell by midnight. MORE RAIN 15th: Cloudy, light steady rain 10am-4pm about .25" fell. More rain late this evening was becoming moderate to heavy by midnight with a total of .46" 16th: Rain overnight was moderate to heavy at times especially early. Another .62" by 7am. Showers, light rain & fog continued through the day .83" total rain since midnight. A rather cool high of only 53 F today. 17th: Continued very cool & damp. Light rain, fog & drizzle all day .16" fell by midnight 18th: Carbon Copy of yesterday. Cool, overcast & periods of rain total .17" fell. 21st: Light rain overnight .10" fell. Overcast, breezy & cool. 22nd: Ditto yesterday. Overcast, breezy & cool, light rain .09" fell. CONTINUED COOL AND WET DENSE FOG CAUSES MASSIVE PILE-UP ON I-68 23rd: The unusually wet, cool weather continues with low clouds & fog all day. The fog was extremely dense on the mountain ridges and caused a massive 85-vehicle pile-up on I-68 on nearby Big Savage Mountain that killed two, injured dozens and made national news. Rain this evening totaled .27" by midnight. 24th: More rain after midnight. Another .20" fell. FINALLY some sun by this afternoon and milder temperatures. 25th: More afternoon sunshine and a relatively mild, pleasant day. Rain late this evening .11" by midnight. 26th: Some heavy downpours overnight especially around 12:30am with about .50" in a half-hour. Rain ended by about 8am with another .76" falling since midnight. Mostly cloudy and relatively cool this afternoon. 27th: Continued cool and cloudy. Showers with some thunder this afternoon 1-5pm .26" fell. Another shower late this evening total .32" fell. 28th: Overnight showers produced another .21" rain. Low clouds & fog. Remained cloudy & cool. 31st: Light rain this morning about 5-9 am only .08" fell. Periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms moved in after noon. Showers tapered off to light rain by early evening. Total .98" of rain fell today. MAY'S WEATHER SUMMARY: COOL, WET AND FOGGY Cool, wet and foggy sums up the weather for May. The average temperature was only 57.8 F, even cooler than last May, which was also below normal with a 59.0 F average. Precipitation totaled a whopping 8.14" making it the 3rd wettest month on my records since 1992. It's also the most precipitation we've had in a month without at least one day producing 1.00" or higher. The rain on the 31st came very close with 0.98" falling. It rained almost constantly, with 23 days of measurable precipitation, the most I've recorded in a month. There were several thunderstorms, and fog became all too familiar. Last year a flash flood snarled travel on I-68 on Memorial Day weekend, and this year dense fog caused a massive 85-car pile-up, making national headlines. Additional notes/records 16: Record low max 53 F. Also a record daily rainfall of 0.92" 17: Record low max 50 F 18: Record low max 54 F 22: Record low max 51 F 23: Record low max 55 F 31: Record low max 60 F May 2003 was the 2nd wettest May on record with 8.14" of rainfall. The wettest May was 1968 with 8.63 inches. However a record 23 days this May had measurable precipitation - a record for any month. Also, 19 days had 0.10" of rain or greater, also breaking the record of 16 in May 1996. The mean monthly maximum temperature of 65.7 F also sets a new record low for May. 19 days with fog also sets a new May record. The foggiest month ever was August 1996 (28 days!).