MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD MAY 2011 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 56 46 .08 F Cool, light rain & drizzle 2 70 52 Mostly cloudy 3 82 53 .18 F,T Foggy, warm, late PM thunder/rain/wind 4 53 44 .34 Cool, windy, showers 5 62 43 Partly cloudy 6 68 38 Partly cloudy 7 70 45 T Partly to mostly cloudy, brief light shower 8 68 46 Partly to mostly cloudy 9 72 44 Mostly sunny, pleasant 10 72 43 Partly sunny 11 76 52 Partly cloudy 12 78 54 T Warm, humid, increasing clouds 13 70 62 .22 F Overnight rain showers, mostly cloudy 14 68 61 .06 Few showers 15 70 61 .52 F Showers 16 70 54 .07 Variable clouds, PM showers 17 63 56 2.03 F,T Heavy rain, PM thunderstorms 18 64 55 2.29 F,T,H Overnight rain, PM t-storm, hail & flooding rains 19 66 51 .03 F Partly sunny, brief PM showers 20 69 50 F AM fog, partly sunny 21 78 51 Partly cloudy 22 78 55 Partly cloudy 23 76 65 .39 T Overnight thunderstorm, variable clouds 24 76 61 Partly to mostly cloudy 25 83 61 Partly sunny 26 85 63 .25 T Partly cloudy, afternoon t-storms, severe south 27 77 50 1.54 T,H Overnight t-storms, severe PM t-storms 28 80 61 Mostly cloudy 29 88 63 Partly cloudy, very warm 30 92 65 Partly cloudy, hot 31 91 67 Partly cloudy, hot AVG/SUM 73.3 53.9 8.00 0.0 - EXT 92 38 2.31 - - Date 30 6 18 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 63.6°F Year precipitation to date: 24.46" (+7.23") Season snowfall to date: 26.2" (-14.6") Number of days with: Fog 8 Thunder 6 Hail 2 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1: Light rain & drizzle, record low max 56 F tied with 1964. 3-4: Warm high 82 F, late PM cooling rain & thunder (3rd). Then much cooler (4th) with rain showers. Higher elevations to the north reported some wet snow. 5-12: A fair weather period with seasonable temperatures and lots of sunshine 13-16: Occasional showers, most of the rain fell on the 15th 17-18: Flooding rains, severe thunderstorms. Periods of rain on the 17th, heavy at times especially in the PM when imbedded thunderstorms moved in. More rain overnight 17th-18th then some wild thunderstorms this afternoon with torrential downpours, hail that covered the ground and a funnel cloud that was seen over South Cumberland. The storms produced severe hail in Frostburg, 1-2" diameter, and flash flooding hammered much of LaVale and Mt. Savage, with many roads closed and widespread basement flooding. A total of 5.22" of rain fell in the past week, most of it in the past 2 days, with over 2" of rain on back- to-back days for the first time in LaVale records. Both days shattered daily rain records (17th, 2.03", crushes last year's record 1.27" and 18th, 2.29", busts 1988's 1.44" mark). 23: An early morning/overnight thunderstorm with brief heavy rain. Low of 65 is a record high, beating 62 in 2004. 26-27: More severe storms and flash floods. On the 26th a very severe thunderstorm passed just southeast of here. We were on the fringe of the storm and received little rain and no hail. Half-dollar-sized (1.25") hail fell at Tim Thomas's station in Cumberland with nearly everywhere in the path of this storm reporting hail between 1-2" diameter and one report of 2.75" diameter hail in western Washington Co. 1-3" of rain caused flash floods in a line from Keyser WV/Cumberland eastwards to Hancock. Also, radar indicated rotation and a possible weak tornado in the Spring Gap/Oldtown/Flintstone areas of Allegany Co. On the 27th the storms took an identical track slightly further N/W with severe hail hitting Frostburg, Mt. Savage and parts of LaVale. Flash floods ravaged the Cumberland area and other parts of the county had flooding, large hail & damaging winds, a wild couple days. 1.79" of rain fell, 1.54" on the 27th smashes another daily record 0.97" in 1968. 29-31: Hot and dry with increasing humidity. High 92 on the 30th just misses the 2006 record of 94, and a high of 91 on the 31st just misses the record of 92, also set in 2006. The low of 67 on the 31st did break 2006's record of 65. MONTHLY SUMMARY The very wet spring of 2011 continued with more record-breaking rains in May. Also the trend of above normal temperatures, in particular daily low temperatures, continued. As in April, many severe thunderstorms, including tornadoe,s greeted the area. In the midst of perhaps the worse severe weather season in recent history, Allegany County was battered by large hail on multiple occasions, as well as scattered wind damage, possible tornadoes, and many areas, including right here in LaVale, had heavy rains and flash flooding. Except for the 3rd, which had a high of 82, the first week was the coolest with a couple days in the 50s. Temperatures moderated the 2nd week, which was dry until the 13th. The 3rd week was cool for daytime highs, due to frequent cloud cover and lots of rain. The final 10 days of the month were warm, and May finished downright hot, as summer seemed to arrive right on cue with near-record high temperatures the final two days in the low 90s. Temperatures finished well above normal, moderately on maxes but significantly on mins. In fact, the mean monthly min of 53.9 F tied 2004 for 2nd warmest behind the record warm May 1991. Again, there was a lack of any prolonged or extremely cold weather, as the low was a modest 38 on the 6th. The month's high was predictably towards the end, 92 on the 30th. Precipitation was excessively above normal. We have had a lot of very wet Mays the past 3 decades and the past 4 years. A whopping 8.00" of rain was recorded, making this the 3rd wettest May on record. 4.32" of rain fell on the 17th and 18th, with over 2 inches each day, and a relentless thunderstorm on the 18th that dumped torrential downpours and hail that accumulated on the ground, some of it which was severe. 5.22" rain fell May 13-19. Then, after a few days of mostly fair weather, severe thunderstorms with large hail and heavy downpours hit virtually the entire county on the 26th-27th. Another 1.79" of rain fell from this event, mostly on the 27th, when Cumberland recorded large hail and flash flooding. This was after the city was threatened by a funnel cloud in the May 18 storm. Needless to say, May was pretty wild, especially with regards to heavy rain, severe storms and tornadoes, not only here but across much of the south and east. On the 22nd, Joplin MO was destroyed by a monster EF-5 twister. It was the deadliest tornado since 1947, and followed suit of April, when record numbers of tornado caused hundreds of deaths. The only other two Mays with more rainfall were 2003 (8.14") and the record 8.63" in 1968. The Spring of 2011 was the wettest spring and season on record, with 20.06", beating the 1993 record of 18.69". All 3 spring months were very wet. It is the most rain we have seen in a 3-month period since May-June-July 1989, when over 22" fell. Additional notes/records: 1st: Record low max 56 tied with 1964. 17th: Daily rainfall 2.03" shatters the record 1.27" set just last year in 2010. 18th: Daily rainfall 2.29" shatters the record 1.44" in 1988 and is also the first time that over 2" of rain has fallen on back-to-back calendar days. The only other time this may have happened was when Hurricane Gracie dumped 4.67" on Sep 30-Oct 1, 1959, but 1.34" was attributed to September 30th (5pm obs time) and 3.33" to Oct. 1. This is also the heaviest 2-day rain event since Hurricane Frances 4.64" deluge Sep 8-9, 2004 (4.36" 8th). 23rd: Record high min 65 F, breaks the 2004 record of 62. 27th: Daily record rainfall 1.54", shattering the old record of 0.97" in 1968. 31st: Record high min 67 F, breaks the 2006 record of 65. May's mean min of 53.9 F ties it for 2nd warmest on record with May 2004. May 2011 is the 3rd wettest May on record with 8.00" of precipitation. Spring 2011 is the WETTEST SPRING AND SEASON on record with 20.06" of precipitation, breaking 1993's record 18.69" for wettest Spring (and season) on record.