May didn't feel that warm

It's true, other than a couple days it wasn't really that warm last month, yet the data has something else to say. May 2023 set several warm temp records and by several I mean EIGHT, yes eight daily records for my station fell. Bear in mind these are not true 'all time' records as I have operated a weather station at this location for the last 22 years. That however is still a lot of dailies to fall in one month.

It is not unusual for May to bring the seasons first 90º mark and in fact May did just that this year. We cracked that on May 13th and would follow it up with another on May 15th. A total of two days at or above 90º and several other days in the 80s. Nary a freezing temperature all month and that is no surprise as subfreezing weather in May is rare. In fact we failed to drop below 40º on any of May's 31 days. Just nine days had lows below 50º and 3 days managed stay above 60º all night long. The warmest over night low a summer-like 62º on the 15th. Five overnight lows were daily records for warm minimums. Despite several warm afternoons above 85º only two of those were daily records, the third daily record fell on the 20th with a mild 79.6º temp. That remains as one of only two days in May with local records under 80º. The warmest afternoon was a 90.8º mark on May 13th no where near the all time May record of over 95º. With all that warm weather you might think there wasn't a chilly day, but there was. The coolest evening low came on the 9th with a crisp 42.9º and three afternoons failed to reach 60º the chilliest of which was May 4th at 56.7º. Monthly averages were well above my 22 year average with mornings coming in at 52.8º nearly 4º above normal and daily high averaged out to almost 74º a full 6º above normal. Yikes, it really didn't feel that warm.

Rainfall was pitifully low coming in about a third of typical for May. A very July like 1.14 inches in the bucket, but there were thunderstorms around and some local areas got drenched. Even with those isolated downpours it was a dry May. More than half the monthly total came on one day, with 0.61 inch on the 5th. A total of just four days with measurable precipitation all of it in the first half of the month.

June is starting out like May ended with coastal clouds moving in mid morning and burning off around noon. Temps in the comfortable upper 60s and low 70s. That's fine by me, I'll take that all month long :)

Soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Soggy and Chilly April ends Toasty

What a wild month we had in April. There was rain, there was snow, the was summer heat, and there were records broken.

Starting with the the temps, April was chilly by day and about average by night. The coldest morning low was a 32.9º mark on the 12th a day that saw an inch of sticking snow. The coldest afternoon high was a January like 42.3 and the coldest afternoon high I have ever recorded in April. There were two daily low max temps records last month along with 7 days that failed to reach 50º. The month stayed above freezing but delivered 11 days with low temps below 40º. 

March gave me my first 60º day of the year and April as expected delivered the first 70º day with a nice 74.8º mark on the 26th. That is pretty late for the first 70º+ day. It was the first 70º day since October 16th which was also the last time we saw an 80º day. April delivered pair of eighties on the 28th and 29th with 87.1º and 84.3º respectively both of which were daily high records. No where near the all time April record of 91º. Four days above 70º and eight days above 60º. On the evening side there was also a daily record warm overnight low with 57.7º on the 29th following that crispy 87.1º high on the 28th. 

As for precipitation, I did record the latest sticking snowfall ever, besting last years record of April 11th with an inch that fell the morning of the 12th. It stuck around for part of the day but was gone before sunset. Other than a brief tenth of an inch that stuck for about 10 minutes on the 3rd, that was it for frozen perception. There were a few days with wintry mix that didn't stick. Rainfall was plentiful so I'll assume those April showers will deliver lots of May flowers this month. I recorded more than 6 inches of rain compared to my average of 4.24 inches. 19 days with measurable precipitation is bit heavy for April, even in the soggy Northwest. 8 of those days saw a 1/4 inch or more but I didn't receive more than an inch on any one day. The wettest day got close with 0.95 inch on the 11th. 

April was wild on the weather side and its leaving me wondering what May will bring.