NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY

MAY 2018

1-5: Mostly dry weather prevailed in several areas, including much of the Southeast and the drought-stricken southern High Plains. The southern Plains’ gradient between drought and relatively moist conditions remained very sharp across Texas and
Oklahoma. Farther north, warm weather and only light showers across the northern Plains and the upper Midwest. Sudden warmth covered the central and eastern U.S., boosting weekly temperatures from the central Plains into the Northeast as much as 10°F
above normal. Prior to the warm air’s arrival, late-April freezes affected areas as far south as the Ohio Valley and the central Appalachians. Elsewhere, widespread but generally light showers dotted the West, with the most significant precipitation
occurring in the northern and central Rockies. Near- or slightly below-normal temperatures covered the West, excluding areas from the Cascades to the northernmost Rockies. An early-week chill across the Midwest and Northeast resulted in sub-freezing
temperatures across a broad area and capped an unusually cool April. On April 29, daily-record lows plunged to 15°F in Marquette, MI; 27°F in Moline, IL; and 30°F in Indianapolis, IN. Some additional records were set the following day, April 30,
when lows dipped to 25°F in Dubois, PA; 31°F in Parkersburg, WV; and 32°F in Frankfort, KY. With a monthly average temperature of 34.5°F, or 12.2°F below normal, Rochester, MN, completed its coldest April on record (previously, 37.6°F in 1950).
Eau Claire, WI, also experienced its coldest April (34.8°F; previously, 35.2°F in 1950). By May 1, however, warmth arrived in the Midwest, where daily-record highs included 88°F in Springfield, IL, and 86°F in Alpena, MI. In the East, record-
setting highs for May 2 peaked at 91°F in Washington, DC, and Atlantic City, NJ. Other daily-record highs for May 2 included 90°F in Springfield, IL; Baton Rouge, LA; and New York’s Central Park. On May 3, the warmest day during the early-season
Eastern heat wave featured highs of 94°F in Hartford, CT, and 93°F in Atlantic City, NJ. From May 2-4, Georgetown, DE, posted a trio of daily-record highs, reaching 90°F each day. Baltimore, MD, also tallied three consecutive daily-record highs (90,
92, and 91°F) from May 2-4. Consecutive daily record highs were set on May 2-3 in locations such as Trenton, NJ (88 and 91°F), and New York’s LaGuardia Airport (90 and 93°F). On May 4, the last day of record setting Eastern warmth, Naples, FL,
logged a daily-record high of 94°F. At week’s end, hot weather developed in southern California, where Thermal posted its first of three daily-record highs. From May 5-7, Thermal’s highs reached 107, 110, and 105°F.
Showers lingered early in the week across the Northeast, where New York locations such as Binghamton and Syracuse reported a trace of snow on April 29 and 30.

6-12: Across the southern half of the country, mostly dry weather accompanied substantially above-normal temperatures. In drought-affected areas, such as the southern High Plains and the Southwest, the hot, dry weather maintained significant stress on
rangeland, pastures, maturing winter wheat, and emerging summer crops. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 10°F above normal from the Four Corners States into the lower Ohio Valley, and locally averaged more than 15°F above normal on the southern
High Plains. Meanwhile, warm, mostly dry weather favored Southeastern fieldwork and crop development. In the southern Corn Belt, conditions were sufficiently warm and dry to promote planting activities and summer crop emergence and growth. Late in the
week, cool air settled across the nation’s northern tier, resulting in freezes from North Dakota to northern New England. A surge of cool air trailed the late-week precipitation across the North. By May 11, International Falls, MN, posted a daily-
record low of 23°F. A day later, Houlton, ME, logged a record-setting low (24°F) for May 12. Farther south, however, consistent warmth prevailed. Early-week heat was particularly impressive in the Southwest, where Thermal, CA, collected a trio of
daily-record highs (107, 110, and 105°F) from May 5-7. Phoenix, AZ, noted seven consecutive triple-digit readings from May 5-11, including a daily-record high of 106°F on the 6th. Elsewhere in Arizona, Tucson’s first triple-digit temperature of the
year—103°F on May 6—occurred almost 2 weeks earlier than the 1981-2010 average date of May 19. Later, heat shifted to other parts of the South. In Arkansas, Monticello posted consecutive daily-record highs (91 and 90°F, respectively) on May 8-9.
On the same dates, New Iberia, LA, also collected a pair of daily records (92 and 90°F, respectively). By May 10, record-setting warmth reached as far north as the central High Plains, where Colorado locations such as Pueblo (96°F) and Denver (90°F)
registered daily-record highs. From May 10-12, Lubbock, TX, tallied three consecutive daily-record highs (100, 102, and 100°F). Similarly, Naples, FL, tied three consecutive daily records (93, 92, and 92°F) from May 911. On May 11-12, Alma, GA,
experienced its earliest consecutive readings of 95°F or greater, attaining 96°F both days. Previously, Alma’s earliest pair of 95-degree days had been May 13-14, 1967. At week’s end, a surge of heat into the Atlantic Coast States led to daily-
record highs for May 12 in locations such as Fayetteville, NC (96°F), and Richmond, VA (93°F).

13-19: The northern Plains experienced the late-week return of showers and cooler weather. Elsewhere, scattered showers stretched from the northern Great Basin to the northern Rockies, while dry weather covered the Southwest and the western Gulf Coast
region. In the latter area, another week of hot, dry weather reduced soil moisture. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 10°F above normal in many locations from southern sections of the Rockies and High Plains into the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic
States. In fact, warmth covered much of the nation, with near-normal temperatures mostly confined to central and southern California, New England, southern Florida, and the Great Basin.
New Orleans, LA, tied a monthly record with a high of 96°F on May 14. Subsequently, New Orleans’ monthly record—originally set on May 31, 1951, and May 28, 1953—was broken with a high of 97°F on May 15. In fact, record-setting warmth broadly
covered the South and lower Midwest for much of the week. On May 13, daily-record highs soared to 98°F in Pensacola, FL, and Columbia, SC. In the last 60 years, the only other days in May when Pensacola attained the 98-degree mark were May 22 and 23,
1996, and May 26, 28, and 29, 2012. Early-week warmth extended westward to the Plains, where Kansas locations such as Wichita and Topeka posted daily-record highs of 92°F on May 13. Wichita collected another daily record, 94°F, on May 14. Also on
the 14th, Southeastern daily-record highs soared to 97°F in Mobile, AL, and 96°F in Meridian, MS, and Tuscaloosa, AL. Midwestern daily-record highs for May 14 surged to 93°F in Springfield, IL, and 92°F in Evansville, IN. Meanwhile, Northwestern
warmth generally peaked on May 14 with a daily record high (88°F) in Seattle, WA. From May 14-16, Vicksburg, MS, tallied a trio of daily-record highs (94, 95, and 92°F). Similarly, Houston, TX, registered daily-record highs (93, 94, 94, and 96°F) on
4 consecutive days from May 14-17. Elsewhere in Texas, three consecutive daily records (97, 97, and 96°F) were set in Austin from May 16-18. Other daily-record highs in Texas on the 18th included 104°F in Laredo and 98°F in San Antonio. Farther
north, a daily record low in Caribou, ME—30°F on May 16—was representative of cool air lurking near the Canadian border.

20-26: Building heat across the nation’s mid-section promoted a rapid pace of crop development but boosted irrigation demands and reduced moisture availability for some rain-fed crops. Despite the heat, a few areas— primarily in the mid-South and
the middle Ohio Valley— generally benefited from locally heavy showers. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 10°F above normal across parts of the northern and central Plains, and from the western Corn Belt into the Mid-Atlantic States For much of
the week, general warmth dominated the country. Among a handful of daily-record highs were readings of 94°F (on May 20) in Jonesboro, AR; 93°F (on May 23) in Vicksburg, MS; and 91°F (on May 20) in Louisville, KY. Late in the week, however, record-
setting heat exploded across the Plains and Midwest. In North Dakota, Fargo (92, 93, and 93°F) and Grand Forks (91, 94, and 91°F) closed the week with a trio of daily-record highs from May 24-26. Similarly, May 25-27 featured three consecutive daily-
record highs in locations such as Omaha, NE (97, 100, and 101°F); Green Bay, WI (89, 92, and 97°F); and Rochester, MN (90, 91, and 93°F). On May 26, daily-record highs topped the 100-degree mark in several locations, including Midland, TX (105°F);
St. Joseph, MO (102°F); Salina, KS (100°F); and Lincoln, NE (100°F). St. Joseph’s only hotter May reading had occurred on May 30, 1934, with a high of 103°F.

27-31: Abnormally hot weather encompassed large sections of the central and eastern U.S. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 10°F above normal across much of the southern Plains and ranged from 10 to 15°F above normal in the Midwest. Elsewhere,
some precipitation fell across the northern Intermountain West, while little or no rain occurred in the Pacific Coast States and the Southwest. In the latter region, several large wildfires collectively burned tens of thousands of acres of timber, brush,
and grass. An historic early-season heat wave began to subside in some areas at the end of May. From May 24-29, however, Minnesota locations such as St. Cloud and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) set May
records with 6 consecutive days of 90-degree heat. MSP’s temperature peaked with a high of 100°F on May 28—the earliest triple-digit heat on record in that location (previously, 105°F on May 31, 1934). Elsewhere on the 28th, Memorial Day, a May
record was established in Muskegon, MI, with a high of 95°F (previously, 93°F on May 29, 1962). It was the hottest Memorial Day—which has a floating date—in several locations, including Fort Wayne, IN (97°F; previously, 95°F on May 28, 2012).
In Nebraska, Omaha posted four consecutive daily-record highs (97, 100, 101, and 97°F) from May 25-28. Rockford, IL, completed its earliest 3-day stretch of 90-degree heat (97, 92, and 92°F from May 27-29) since May 17-19, 1962. Elsewhere in Illinois,
Chicago reached or exceeded the 95-degree mark twice in May for only the second time on record, along with 2012. Chicago notched identical readings of 97 and 95°F, respectively, on May 27-28, 2012 and 2018. In addition, Chicago registered its highest
reading since July 25, 2012, when it was 99°F, and its second-highest May temperature behind 98°F on May 31, 1934. During the mid- to late-week period, extreme heat coalesced across the south-central U.S. From May 30 – June 1, Texas locations such
as Midland (107, 106, and 109°F) and Lubbock (106, 102, and 107°F) collected a trio of daily-record highs. The first day of June featured daily-record highs of 108°F in Roswell, NM, and Borger, TX. A day later, record-setting highs in Texas for June
2 soared to 107°F in San Angelo and 106°F in El Paso and Del Rio. Farther north, daily-record lows for June 2 were attained in West Yellowstone, MT (16°F), and Big Piney, WY (27°F).

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