Wet May follows dry April here

The timing has been off this spring for the weather gods, who failed to fulfill April’s rainy reputation by delivering abnormally dry conditions then — only to open up the skies in a big way during May.

This included a whopping 7.96 inches of rain being measured last month at F.G. Doggett Water Plant in Mount Airy, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.

The magnitude of this is even more noteworthy, considering that the all-time local average rainfall for May in Mount Airy is much lower at 4.70 inches.

Weather records have been kept here since 1924.

A good chunk of last month’s output was logged for a single day, May 19, when 1.56 inches transpired.

In all, measurable amounts occurred on 12 of May’s 31 days.

For 2024 as a whole, precipitation stood at 4.8 inches — or 24.3 percent — above normal as of the end of last month, 24.52 inches compared to the all-time local average of 19.72 inches.

Fog was observed on six days during May at the water plant.

Warmer than usual

Last month also seemed to get an early start on summer with temperatures averaging more than three degrees above normal for the fifth month of the year — 66.7 degrees compared to 64.2.

Ironically, though, the mercury rise was more prevalent early in May, with the monthly high of 87 degrees occurring on May 3.

Meanwhile, the low for the month involved a pair of 42-degree readings recorded on both April 13-14.