May and Spring 2022 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

 St. Cloud Storms Through 5th Wettest May, 8th Wettest May

May and Spring 2022 Saint Cloud Weather Summaries

Unlike April 2022, when St. Cloud rained on 16 days, but only ended up less than an inch above average on rainfall (3.55 inches), May 2022 produced frequent showers and thunderstorms, often producing severe storms and aggravating already wet conditions. The May rainfall exceeded 8 inches in much of Stearns, Wright, and Kandiyohi Counties (dark red on the NWS Minnesota 30-day rainfall map). The final May St. Cloud Regional Airport rainfall was 7.32 inches, exactly double the average of 3.66 inches. It's the rainiest month in St. Cloud since September 2019 (7.55 inches). This ranks as the 5th rainiest May in St. Cloud records and the rainiest since 2012. It is the most St. Cloud rain in a single month since September 2019 when 7.55 inches fell. St. Cloud's all-time rainiest month was July 1897, when 12.81 inches fell. The most recent month among the top 10 was June 1990, when 10.52 inches fell. There have been 12.39 inches during meteorological spring (March 1-May 31), which is 4.55 inches above average and ranks as St. Cloud's 8th wettest spring.

The heaviest rain period was May 9-12 with 3 inches in much of Stearns, Wright, and Kandiyohi Counties on May 12 alone. The 5 days produced 3 days at the St. Cloud Airport with at least an inch of rain. Previous to this, there had been only 5 days with at least an inch of rain since December 2020. The heaviest rainfall day was May 12, with 2.03 inch of rain. That was the highest single day rainfall St. Cloud had recorded since August 14, 2020 when 3.09 inches fell. The May 11-12 combined total of 3.64 inches tied for the 12th highest single storm rainfall with 10-11 July 2016. May 12 did set a daily record rainfall, beating the old record of 1.31 inch from 1999. May 11 fell just short of the record 1.72 inches, set in 1937. May 9's 1.64 inch was well short of the 3.22 inches record, set in 1979.

The heavy rainfall, coming on the tail end of the rapid snowmelt in northern Minnesota, has produced near record high lake and stream levels in northern Minnesota and severe Red River flooding, especially from Grand Forks northward.

Frequent Severe Weather Including May 9-12, May 28-30

But, the frequent thunderstorms came with frequent severe weather, most notably during the May 9-12 period and over Memorial Day Weekend (May 28-30). In each case, a slow-moving storm system moved from the Intermountain West into the northern Plains. Ahead of each outbreak, high temperatures in the warm sector of these storms were in the 80's and 90's with dew points in the uncomfortable 60's. The sufficiently strong lows provided enough low-level wind change to help the storms organize into either supercell storms, produced large hail, and occasional tornadoes, most notably on May 12 and May 30, when a potential long-track tornado hit Forada and other parts of western Minnesota (damage surveys are still being made). There were many other reports of straight-line wind damage, including wind gusts of 58 MPH in Pleasant Lake and 63 MPH in Becker on May 30. May 9 and May 11 each produced wind damage, heavy rain, and occasional hail stones to 2 inch in diameter.

Temperature-wise, St. Cloud began chilly, the same way that dominated April, but the warm surge ahead of the May 9-12 outbreak produced the first two 80-degree highs of the season. Temperatures returned to the seasonable 70's after that storm and there was another cool spell around May 20 with highs in the 50's and lows in the 30's. However, the month finished with milder temperatures, fueling the Memorial Day severe weather outbreaks. That ended up making St. Cloud's May 2.1 degrees milder than average with a 58.6 degree average. However, it was the clouds and frequent storms that also dominated temperatures, since the average low of 48.1 degrees was 3.9 degrees milder than average. The average high of 69.1 degrees was within 0.3 degrees of average. Despite what seemed to be much too frequent cool periods, only the first 70 degree high (see table below) was as much as a week late. The first 80 degree high on May 9 was 5 days later than the median. These warm periods tended to be isolated, with more days seeming to be cold.

The cloudy and breezy conditions during cool surges also meant that the last frost was set on April 29. Late April was also the time of the last 27 degree or colder reading (April 27).