MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD MAY 2009 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 68 53 .31 AM rain, gradual clearing 2 68 54 .06 Overnight light rain, partial clearing 3 56 49 .63 F Cool, steady light to occasionally moderate rain 4 53 50 2.56 F Heavy rain through mid-afternoon, flooding in area 5 52 49 .24 F Cloudy, a period of rain this afternoon/evening 6 59 52 .51 F Cloudy, cool, more rain this afternoon & evening 7 63 54 .02 F Brief AM showers, becoming partly cloudy 8 69 50 .06 Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy, light rain 9 76 55 Partly sunny, windy 10 65 54 Mostly sunny, windy 11 62 43 .10 Partly cloudy, occasional brief showers 12 61 44 Partly cloudy 13 69 39 Partly cloudy 14 74 56 .04 Variable clouds, humid, brief PM showers 15 77 57 Partly cloudy 16 83 58 .11 Partly sunny, becoming mostly cloudy, few showers 17 59 49 Cool, variable clouds 18 59 35 Partly to mostly cloudy, cool AM 19 68 34 Partly to mostly sunny, scattered AM frost 20 76 42 Mostly sunny 21 80 45 Mostly sunny 22 83 56 Mostly sunny 23 84 58 .36 T Variable clouds, PM t-storms, severe just to SE 24 83 61 .09 T Partly cloudy, PM thunderstorms in area 25 83 55 .05 Brief shower overnight, partly sunny 26 55 53 .36 Much cooler, showers throughout the day 27 60 53 .06 Cloudy, cool, few brief PM showers 28 76 60 .16 T Cloudy, warmer, humid, evening showers, storms 29 72 58 .04 Overnight shower, mostly cloudy, partial clearing 30 75 55 Partly to mostly sunny, breezy 31 75 55 Partly sunny AVG/SUM 69.1 51.2 5.76 0.0 - EXT 84 34 2.56 - - Date 23 19 4 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 60.1 F Year precipitation to date: 15.56" Season snowfall to date: 20.9" Number of days with: Fog 5 Thunder 3 SIGNIFICIANT EVENTS VERY WET - SOME FLOODING 1: Showers came through this morning, more rain overnight (2nd) .37" total. 3: Steady rain through the day .63" and cool high only 56 F. 4: Steady rain overnight became heavy around daybreak and remained heavy through early afternoon. Rain tapered off by late afternoon with 2.56" falling today. These heavy rains caused a good bit of flooding in the area - creeks, streams, fields and the North Branch Potomac River all had flooding. The 2.56" breaks the new 62-year May 4 record of 1.54" set in 1975 and of course shatters the 18-year record of .48" in 1994. It was also quite cool with a high of only 52 F today. 5-6: More rain both evenings. Month's total is already 4.31 inches with 4.71" falling in the past week. 4 of the first 6 days (1st, 3rd, 4th & 6th) have also set daily 18-year precipitation records. 8: 10th consecutive day with measurable rainfall, going back to April 29th. 16: Severe storms hammered areas north & south of the local area but did the usual split and this station saw only a few showers. 18: Cool AM low 35 F. Some frost and freezing temepratures at higher elevations 19: Another chilly morning with patchy frost low 34 F. SEVERE STORMS NEARBY 23: Wild severe thunderstorm suddenly blew up 4-5 miles SE of this station at 4:30 this afternoon and remained stationary in one area for 2 hours. The storm produced extremely heavy rain, nearly continuous lightning, large hail and damaging winds. Flash flooding and nickle sized hail were reported in Wiley Ford WV, wind was clocked at 46 mph at the Cumberland Airport, and 2.52" of rain was recorded at the Cumberland river station on the North Branch Potomac, most of it in only one hour. An outdoor camping event at the Allegany Co. Fairgrounds in Potomac Park had nearly every tent blown over many damaged or destroyed by strong winds and also reported lightning damage to trees in the park. Radar estimated 3-5 inches of rain in that area. This storm was confined to a very small area with much less rain over LaVale and the northern half of Cumberland. Several smaller storms brushed this station dropping a total of .36" rain. 24: Strong thunderstorm just to south again early this afternoon hitting almost an identical area to yesterday's storm. More storms in the area this evening but they kept dissipating or breaking apart as they approached from the west. Only .09" rainfall at this station. 25: A repeat pattern of the past few days with heavy rain and storms north & south of our area but no rain other than a brief predawn shower. 26: Very cool all day as a Cold Air Damming scenario sets up on the east side of the mountains. A showery and blustery day with a high of only 55 F and .36" rain. 27: Very heavy storms to our SW this evening tried to inch this way but dissipated yet again as they approached. No thunder and only .06" of rain. 28: Another very active afternoon and evening and another one where this station misses most of the action. Severe storms hit eastern Allegany Co. with Nickle sized hail and very heavy rain in the Town Creek area at 3pm. More strong to severe storms passed barely W & N of us this evening with flood warnings in Bedford Co. PA where 4-6" of rain has fallen in the past week. 29: Brief shower overnight, 7th consecutive day with measurable rainfall. MONTHLY SUMMARY May was wet with near average temperatures. The month began quite cool with soaking rains the first week. On the 4th, 2.56" of rain fell, with over 3 inches in Cumberland that caused flooding along the North Branch Potomac River. There were 10 consecutive days with measurable rainfall from Apr 29 - May 8. The area then received a much-needed hiatus from the active weather pattern during mid-month as temperatures rebounded with highs finally reaching the 70s and 80s, though nothing like the record intense heat near the end of April. However, a cold front on the 16th ushered in the month's coldest temperatures along with scattered frost in the area on the 18th-19th. Some freezing temperatures were observed at higher elevations. Low temperatures reached 35 and 34 on the 18th and 19th, respectively, at this station. Interestingly, the low of 34 on May 19, unusually cool for the date, also occurred on the same date as the highest temperature ever for May, 96 F on May 19, 1996. Another active weather pattern developed from the 23rd-29th with another streak of 7 consecutive days of rainfall, though amounts were light at this station. Some very heavy rains and severe storms hit nearby. South Cumberland, Potomac Park and Wiley Ford were hammered with over 2.5 inches of rain, large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding due to a stationary severe thunderstorm on the afternoon of the 23rd. LaVale and most of Cumberland were spared the worst of the storm. Severe storms hit the county again on the 28th, with large hail to our east in the Town Creek area. Flooding rains also hit Bedford County, but once again this station dodged the bullet. Most of the rains from the 23rd-29th went north or south of our area. Precipitation still finished well above normal with 5.76 inches. Aside from the frost on the 18th-19th, temperatures were unremarkable with a lack of extremes that we saw in April. May was a breezy month, with winds of 20 and 30 mph, sometimes gusting higher, frequently observed. Additional notes/records 4: Record daily rainfall 2.56" fell. 5: Daily record low max 52 F. 19: Record low 34 F 26: Record low max 55 F