May and Spring 2019 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

It Was the Coldest, Snowiest (start of) May Since....Not Quite Ever

May and Spring 2019 Saint Cloud Weather Summaries

Wet Conditions Have the Most Consequences in May

While the cool conditions and one snowstorm took its toll on Minnesotans longing for spring, it was the persistent rain that caused the most problems. The St. Cloud Airport picked up 6.40 inches of rain in May, 3.45 inches above average, and only 0.10 inch short of making it into the 10 wettest Mays. And, there was a lot more rain in the area with most of the southeast half of Minnesota finished May with 6-10 inches of rain, not quite as bad as the huge rainfalls from southern Iowa and southeast Nebraska to the Texas-Louisiana border and in parts of northern Wyoming and South Dakota.

7th Wettest First Five Months on Record

This accounted for nearly half of the total precipitation since the start of the year. The 13.75 inches of total precipitation through the end of May was 5.40 inches above average and ranks as the 7th wettest first 5 months of the year in St. Cloud records. The rainfall was topped by a cold rain storm, dumping 2.89 inch of rain while the temperature remained below 50 on May 18 and 19. But, what will likely be remembered is the wet storm that included snowfall part of which included some wet snowfall on both May 5 and 6 on both May 5 and 6, but at least there wasn't the 8.3 inches seen in Duluth. Still, the 0.6 inch of snow ranks as the 7th snowiest May in St. Cloud records. This also topped off the snow season of 2018-2019 with 69.1 inches, the 8th snowiest in St. Cloud records. As has been the case in our recent snowy seasons, the bulk of the snow fell during the latter portion of the snow season. Between 1 February and the end of the season, St. Cloud picked up 47.9 inches of snow, the 3rd highest late season snowfall in St. Cloud records and the 4th season since 2000 to place in the top 6.

The wet, and occasionally white conditions have led to persistent river flooding on parts of the Minnesota and Mississippi River especially from St. Paul into Iowa. It has also been a small taste of the devastating rainfall that has hit areas from southern Iowa and southeastern Nebraska through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and to the Texas-Louisiana border. Most of this area received more than 10 inches of rain with Kansas City and Oklahoma City getting one of the five highest 30-day rainfalls on record. Over 40 percent of Minnesota soils have surplus moisture. This has led to a huge lag in planting crops.

Cooler Than Average May, But Not Cool Enough to Set Records

The cool conditions remained just cold enough to not set any records. There was only one more high of 70 or above (4) in the first 23 days of May than highs colder than 50 (3). That included temperatures not breaking 35 degrees during the rain and snowstorm on May 5 and 6 and the temperature never breaking 50 degrees during the large rainfall on May 18 and 19. However, the temperatures couldn't maintain the rate of averaging more than 10 degrees colder than average. The warm-up during the last 5 days ensured that this May would finish with an average temperature of 51.8 degrees, 4.7 degrees colder than average, but 0.7 degrees short of making it into the 10 Coldest Mays. The overall spring average temperature (March 1-May 31) ended up being 39.1 degrees. This was 4.4 degrees colder than average, but 1.2 degrees too mild to break into the 10 coolest springs.

Just Enough Heat and Not Enough Rain Friday to Fail to Reach 10 Coolest, Wettest

The high temperature climbed to 88 degrees on Friday, and the low didn't drop below 53. In either category, these were the warmest readings of the year, as well as during May. This pushed the May temperature in St. Cloud to 51.8 degrees, 4.7 degrees below average, but out of theThe average meteorological spring temperature (March 1-May 31) was 39.1 degrees, 1.2 degrees milder than what it takes to The Friday night thunderstorms only produced 0.07 inch of rain at the St. Cloud Airport, so the May rainfall finished at 6.40 inches,The meteorological spring (March 1-May 31) rainfall finished at 11.39 inches, 0.17 inch short of cracking the 10 wettest meteorological springs .