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This Month's Daily Statistics
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SUBJECT: The Heat Goes On St. Cloud May 1998 and Spring 1998 Weather Summary
The heat continued in Saint Cloud during May 1998. The average
temperature of 62.2 degrees marked the 7th warmest May on record and
was more than 6 1/4 degrees above normal. The high temperatures in May
were the most extreme (5.5 degrees above normal). The extreme high
temperatures included 3 days of highs of 90 degrees or higher, the
first time that this has happened since 1934. The high temperature of
94 on May 18 was the highest May temperature recorded in almost 30 years
(May 27, 1969 had a high of 97 degrees). The 3 90-degree days are already
as many, if not more, than 3 other years in the '90's. The normal number
of 90 degree days for May is 0.5 and for the year is 10.7 (see tables
below). Only 1995 of the 1990's has had more than the average 90 degree
days. 1998 is off to the fast start, but long range forecasting does not
work well during the summer and the immediate forecast is a return to
normal or below normal temperatures this week.
Only 3 days in May (22, 24, 31) had average temperatures below
normal and only 5 days this May (8, 22, 24, 30, 31) had high temperatures
below normal.
The warm conditions in May helped to account for the 8th warmest
spring (March 1-May 31) on record. The average spring temperature of
47.0 degrees was more than 5.5 degrees above normal and was the warmest
spring since 1987.
The heavy rain and thunderstorms on Saturday bumped the May preci-
pitation above normal by about 1/2 inch. Since the dominant form of
precipitation is thunderstorms, rainfall accumulation around Central
Minnesota will vary. The rain gauge at SCSU picked up almost 3/4 inch
more rain in May (4.41 inches) with the biggest discrepancy on the 18th
(airport .06 in, SCSU .38 in).
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MAY 1998 STATISTICS MAY 1998 NORMAL TEMPERATURE Average High 75.9 68.4 Average Low 48.5 43.4 Average Temp 62.2* 55.9 Warmest high temperature 94 on the 18th (record; see below) warmest May high since 27 May 1969 (97) Coldest high temperature 61 on the 31st Mildest low temperature 63 on the 14th (record; see below) Coldest low temperature 38 on the 1st,6th *8th Warmest May in St. Cloud history RAINFALL (in) 3.67 3.16 Most in 24 hours 1.19 on the 8th RECORDS SET: Daily warmest high temperature: 90 (tie) on the 17th (tied record from 1972) 94 on the 18th (old record: 90 in 1911)*** Daily warmest low temperature: 63 on the 14th (old record: 60 in 1944, 1962) ***warmest May high since May 27, 1969 SPRING STATISTICS SPRING 1998 NORMAL Average Temperature 47.0** 42.3 Total Melted Precip(in) 7.59 6.92 **7th warmest spring in St. Cloud history (105 yrs)
DAYS WITH 90+ DEG HIGHS IN MAY ============================== 5 1900 5 1934 4 1911 4 1913 4 1926 3 1925 3 1998 <---6TH (TIE), MOST SINCE 1934 DAYS WITH 90+ DEG HIGHS (YEAR) IN 1990'S ======================================== 15 1995 9 1991 5 1996 4 1990 4 1997 3 1992 3 1994 3 1998 1 1993 AVG NUMBER OF 90+ DEG DAYS PER YEAR: 10.7 AVG NUMBER OF 90+ DEG DAYS IN MAY: 0.5 ST. CLOUD TEMPS--SPRING (118 YEARS; AVG = 42.3 F; SDEV = 2.9 F) WARMEST COLDEST 50.0 F 1977 34.4 F 1888 49.1 F 1910 35.8 F 1950 48.7 F 1987 37.3 F 1907 47.8 F 1911 37.5 F 1943 47.3 F 1985 37.6 F 1996 47.1 F 1902 37.7 F 1940 47.0 F 1998 <-- 7TH WARMEST; 37.7 F 1965 46.3 F 1889 WARMEST SINCE 37.9 F 1893 46.3 F 1988 1987 38.0 F 1975 46.3 F 1918 38.2 F 1897 ST. CLOUD TEMPS--MAY (118 YEARS; AVG = 56.1 F; SDEV = 3.7 F) WARMEST COLDEST 66.2 F 1934 47.2 F 1907 64.4 F 1887 49.2 F 1945 64.4 F 1977 49.4 F 1924 63.6 F 1988 49.8 F 1885 63.2 F 1881 50.2 F 1954 62.7 F 1911 50.4 F 1967 62.6 F 1939 50.5 F 1888 62.2 F 1998 <-- 8TH WARMEST; 50.5 F 1947 61.8 F 1900 WARMEST SINCE 50.9 F 1892 61.4 F 1926 1988 51.1 F 1997
