May 17 2016 – The rain today helped Baltimore stay below well below average again! In fact the high on this date ‘should have been’ 74°F. A bench mark for May has been failing to reach 60°F, and today’s high at BWI was only 56°F making for the 7th day this month. The last time May had that many cool days in Baltimore was way back in 1882. There is actually a chance that there could be one more this weekend with the next rain storm. Considering the urban heat island effect, that is an even more impressive feat combined with a strong sun angle and longer days this time of year.
Here is the break down of the 7 days with more stats below:
Coolest Mays in Baltimore
Weather records date back to 1871
62.9°F Average (highs and lows) should be
69.1°F May 2015 (+6.3°F and 12.8°F warmer than this year)
Only seven years have had May monthly averages stay below 60°F. There are still 14 days left, but so far this year is on pace for the coldest.
- 2016 56.3°F (to date)
- 1967 57.0°F
- 1882 59.0°F
- 1907 59.0°F
- 1917 59.2°F
- 2003 59.3°F *after second most snowy winter
- 1997 59.5°F
- 1973 59.6°F *after second lowest snowy winter
I’ve highlighted 1973 and 2003 to show that both very snowy and warm low snow winter preceded two of the chilly Mays. So this is not a pattern related to the prior season.
The storm on Preakness Saturday could hold temps in the 50s again. If so, then the record of eight days in the 50s would belong to this year alone. Go figure, we had our warmest December on record to start the winter and the biggest snow storm on record in January. Makes you wonder what we have in store for us next.
Also see: Extreme Weather of 2015 Almost In Balance
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