Merry month of May
Welcome to the merry month of May. According to a English travel site this is the weather that can be expected in the month of May here in Michigan.
“May brings bright sunshine to Michigan as the cold and windy conditions abate significantly. The average daily temperatures are in the pleasant 58°F (14.4°C) to 71°F (21.7°C) range, while the nights are in the mild zone of 36°F (2.2°C) to 48°.
Rain picks up in intensity with 3″ (76.2mm) to 5″ (127mm) in the state as the snow starts to melt away. The soil is free of frost, and the thawing of the snow brings abundant freshwater.
The air is sweet and fresh, with flowers blossoming in the wild. Wild turkeys and ducks provide plenty of opportunities for hunters with clear skies in the background. Late spring sees abundant trout in the Au Sable River that races through the heart of the wilderness in Eastern Michigan. The dunes along the lake shores are a fantastic sight in the warm spring conditions. Expect the weather to become warmer with each passing day in May in Michigan.”
That said, at Grand Rapids and Holland the average mean for the month is 58.7. At Muskegon the mean is 56.9. For the lake shore we could hear the phrase “cooler by the lake” from time to time. At Grand Rapids the average high low starts out at 64.9/43.0 on the 1st warms up to 69.2/47.4 on the 15th and is up to 74.3/52.8 by 7the 31st The warmest Mays at Grand Rapids are 1. 65.7 in 1977 2. 65.3 in 1896. 3. 65.0 in 1982. 4. 64.8 in 2018 and 5. 64.6 in 1991. The record highest reading recorded in May at Grand Rapids is 95 on May 31st, 1934. The coldest means for May at Grand Rapids are 50.3 in 1997. ** 50.7 in 1924.** 50.7 in 1907.** 50.9 in 1945. And 51.1 in 1917. The record coldest low for a May date is 21 set on May 1st, 1903. The top 5 wettest Mays of record are. 10.1” in 2001** 9.54” in 2000** 9.29” in 2004** 8.29” in 1981**and 7.18” in 1911. The driest top 5 are 0.72” in 1936** 0.94” in 1987** 0.98” in 1925** 1.03” in 1961 and 1.05” in 1971. And snow fall yes there have been years where it has snowed in May. The most was a tie of 5.5” in 1923 and 1902. In 1929 3.0” fell there was 2.0” in 1954 in 1940 0.8” fell. In 1990 0.2” was reported and in 1994 0.1” was reported and last year a trace was reported on May 8th
Last year then mean for May to go along with that trace of snow fall the mean for May was 56.7° and that was 2.0 degrees below the 30 year average of 58.7. The low for the month was 26 on the 9th (there were 3 nights with lows in the 20’s one night at 31 and a total of 10 nights with lows below 40.) The high for the month was 90 on the 26th there were a total of 4 days with highs of 80 or better. There was 4.22″ of rain fall there was a reported 5 thunderstorms At Grand Rapids. And there was a reported 64% of sunshine
The updated CPC long range guess for May 2021 now has tended towards a cooler and wetter Mat than average. (Remember the April 27th rule. That a warm April 27th tends to have a cooler than average summer)
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/30day/
We will have to wait until May 20th to see the updated long range guess for the summer season and next year.
Slim
May?…simple. Below “average”. Regardless of the shuffling, shifting, changing, moving, sliding “average” used to compare. Thirty years?…sure, that just about sums up the entire range of weather this region has ever experienced.
You know it and a frost/freeze will be rocking and rolling by the end of the upcoming week! What an amazing cool pattern we are stuck in!
Taking a break from working outside. Nice day to fly a kite.
>>>>Breaking weather news>>>we are currently in a cool pattern with no change in sight! The cool pattern may last well into the third week of May! Wow!
Awesome!! I will be in Texas most of that time!!
Incredible cold last night and now most of next week looks like well below normal temps. Lows in the upper 30’s and some highs only in the 50’s! Wow, the cool pattern keeps coming!
The current 30 year average H/L is 65/43 on Sunday and is up to 67/45 by next Saturday.
Slim
We will be well below those numbers most of next week and beyond! Incredible!
Regarding my rain gauge questions.. I contacted Lacrosse Technologies, and she stated that, “Please keep in mind that the rain gauge is measuring the volume of rain falling into the cylinder. So it has to account for the radius and the height.”
I thought an inch of rain was an inch of rain, whether it falls into a beaker or a 9×13 backing pan…
Here is some information on how the different types of rain gauges work.
https://www.theweathermakers.org/how-rain-gauge-work/
Slim
With all the temperature ups and downs April 2021 ended up as a very near average month. The mean at Grand Rapids for April was 48.5 just +0.5 from the 30 year average of 48.0. There were a total of 13 days with a mean warmer than average and a total of 17 days with a mean below average. Some of the departures were on the extreme side with departures of +23.4 on the 7th and -16.2 on the 21st In total there were 7 days with the mean more than 10° warmer that average and 5 days with the… Read more »
How could that be with all of the warm weather hype and propaganda on here?
Wow 70 degrees today and 76 degrees tomorrow? Hello May!
And April ended with above normal temps and zero snow!! Who knew?!?!
April was a very up and down month temperature wise. There were a total of 17 days with a mean below average and 13 days with a mean above average. And at Grand Rapids they reported 0.3″ of snow fall. While at Holland April ended up at -0.3 With 18 days below average and 12 days above average.
Slim
Yep, typical April roller coaster.
Welcome to the best month of the year .May day kick off to Summer fun!!! INDY
Here is the link to the updated long range guess for May 2021
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/30day/
Slim