MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD MAY 2008 OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY 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 DAY 24-hour Rain Snow/ Snow Special WEATHER Date Max Min Equiv Ice Depth Obs. SUMMARY 1 64 40 T Some early drizzle becoming partly cloudy 2 80 45 Partly cloudy, much warmer 3 76 58 .57 T Partly to mostly cloudy, heavy PM showers w/ thunder 4 62 50 Mostly sunny, cooler, breezy 5 70 41 Partly to mostly sunny 6 70 47 T Partly to mostly cloudy, few sprinkles 7 79 47 T Mostly to partly sunny, warm, few PM sprinkles 8 69 60 .12 Overnight showers, mostly overcast, cooler 9 63 53 .14 Early AM showers, mostly cloudy, cool 10 62 50 1.25 F Heavy rain overnight and early morning, partial PM clearing 11 54 44 1.53 F AM fog, cloudy, cool, heavy rain developed during the evening 12 47 41 .09 F Brief AM heavy shower, then drizzle, very cool 13 62 48 Mostly sunny, milder 14 66 44 .04 Cloudy, brief shower 15 69 57 .01 Brief AM shower, then partly cloudy 16 55 46 .61 Cool, periods of rain with some partial clearing late 17 70 47 .11 Partly sunny becoming cloudy late with evening shower 18 66 47 .59 Overnight and AM rain, partial PM clearing, gusty NW winds 19 57 44 T Partly cloudy, cool, windy, W winds gusting to 35 mph 20 52 45 .50 F Morning and early afternoon rain, cool, late PM clearing 21 56 41 .04 Variable clouds, couple showers with wind, late PM clearing 22 59 46 Partly cloudy, cool 23 65 40 Mostly to partly sunny, becoming cloudy late 24 68 47 Mostly sunny, breezy 25 72 45 Sunny, pleasant 26 87 46 .04 T Mostly sunny, warm, humid, t-storms in area, late shower 27 78 64 .09 Partly cloudy, warm, few showers 28 68 50 .01 Mostly sunny, brief PM shower 29 74 44 Partly cloudy, mild after cool AM 30 76 50 Mostly cloudy AM, partly cloudy PM 31 81 58 1.02 T AM heavy thunderstorms and rain, gradual PM clearing AVG/SUM 67.0 47.9 6.76 0.0 - EXT 87 40 1.53 - - Date 26 23* 11 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 57.5 Year precipitation to date: 20.70" Season snowfall to date: 22.0" Number of days with: Fog 4 Thunder 3 NOTABLE EVENTS: 2: Warm high of 80 F. 3: A warm day with a daily record of 0.57" of rainfall from PM thunderstorms. Some nearby areas had a lot more rain. 10: A daily record of 1.25" of rain fell. Cool and cloudy most of the day. 11-12: A strong low pressure system developed along the Mid-Atlantic coast. This resulted in cool temperatures, gusty winds and heavy rain that began the evening of the 11th and ended the morning of the 12th, totaling 1.62 inches. The total rainfall of 1.53" on the 11th is the 3rd highest daily rainfall for May (2.73" fell on 5/5/98 and 1.76" on 5/29/02) and the high of only 47 on the 12th set a new daily low max temperature for the month of May, surpassing 48 F set on May 2, 2005. Some light late season snowflakes fell at nearby mountain locations during the morning hours of the 12th. 16: Another unsually cool May day with steady rainfall totaling 0.61 inches. 18: Overnight and AM rain totaling 0.59 inches, windy. May 18th has statistically been the wettest day in May from 1992-2008, averaging 0.355" per year and totaling 6.04". 19-22: A cool, blustery period with highs only in the 50s each day. A half-inch of rain fell the morning of the 20th. 26: A much warmer pattern begins with PM thunderstorms passing mainly to the north. 31: Tied for warmest day of the month. Series of strong thunderstorms, mainly in the morning, brings the daily total to a record 1.02 inches. This was the 4th daily record rainfall this month and the 3rd day in May with over an inch of rainfall. MONTHLY SUMMARY May 2008 was unusually cool and wet. Out of 17 years of records, May 2008 ranked 3rd coolest and 2nd wettest. The mean temperature was 57.4 F and the total precipitation was a whopping 6.76 inches. Four daily rainfall records were set (3rd, 10th, 11th and 31st), three of them topping an inch. May 2008 ties for 3rd with several other months with 3 days of over an inch of rain, only behind June 1995 and September 2003 (4). 1997 was the coolest May on record (54.3 F) and May 2003 was the wettest with 8.14 inches. The mean monthly maximum temperature of 66.8 F was the coolest on May records, as was the high temperature of only 47 on the 12th. There was no locally severe weather in the area, although strong thunderstorms rumbled through on the final day (31st), one of only 3 days with thunder. Temperatures were indeed on the cool side with a few warm days thrown in, but nothing particularly impressive, and no extremes in either direction. The coolest stretch of the month was the 2nd and 3rd weeks. This roughly coincided with the wettest stretch of the month. The warmest period was the 26th-31st, by far. Overall it was an active weather month, with 17 days of measurable precipitation, and 7 days with 0.5" of rain or better, the 2nd highest monthly total on record. June 1995 had 8 days with 0.5+ inches of rain (6 were in the final 8 days of that month). The most significant storm was undoubtedly the Northeaster on the 11th-12th that led to heavy rainfall, gusty winds, unsually cool temperatures and unusually late season mountain snowflakes. Additional notes/records 8: Record high min 60 F 10: Record 1.25" of daily rainfall 11: Record 1.53" of daily rainfall 12: Record low max 47 F. Latest seasonal date on record of temperatures in the 40s. 20: Record low min 52 F May 2008 had the 2nd lowest mean maximum temperature (67.0 F).