MONTHLY SUMMARY: MAY 1997 UPDATED: 6/14/97 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Internet address has been modified by the server, if but slightly. It's now: http://www.pilot.infi.net/~bsmoot/acon.htm Note the insert of "pilot"; also, those who visit the old address will be redirected to the new URL until December 31st, 1997. After that, visitors will have to insert the "pilot" correctly into the address. Well, the new Davis program is nice! It allows one to use strip charts to analyze data over a period. However, its "bulletin" display and daily summary display (text) are not as user friendly as the PCLINK3 versions, and not as graphically "pleasing", either. Am working on getting the new version to reset at midnight. Haven't been able to get it to do so despite setting the requirements properly. Time to talk to Davis support, I guess. Danielle Desrosiers at RNK (NWS Blacksburg) informs me that there is no longer a formal monthly climate summary for ROA but ensures me that the data is still being maintained! (I know, like to me it makes no sense to you either!) Looks like we saw yet another cold month with some spots establishing the coldest May on record! Precip most all areas was well-below normal, too! Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Arlington - From NWS WBC Sterling: a new record daily rainfall amount occurred on May 25th when 2.17" of rain fell, some 0.57" higher than the previous record set in 1952. The high temp of 96 tied the May 19th record set previously in 1911. The month experienced well-below normal temperatures and dry conditions for the most part. Bridgewater - Notes from Clayton: "We had nine days in May with rather strong winds. I have observed weather in the Shenandoah Valley for nearly fifty years. I don't believe I have ever seen this much wind for May before. At the end of May last year, there were eight thunderstorms. This year, there have been only two, and they have been weak ones. Both April and May have been below normal in precipitation and temperatures." Falls Church - Lowell Koontz' station did not experience the excessive rainfall that Erica Page's did (4.6") on the 25th and 26th although he did record a whopping 2.64"! He noted the month was a dry, clear, windy, cool month with low relative humidity and large temperature ranges. Despite the deluge on the 25th and 26th, May was 1.23" below average. The average mean temp was 2.61 degrees below normal. Falls Church - Erica reports that the average rainfall for the month of May is 3.66". Her station noted 6.49", 2.83" above normal. Most of that came on the 25th and 26th when we had a train of rain showers come through from 5PM until 10 AM the next day. The average monthly temp was 5.2 degrees below normal! Fredericksburg - From Ken comes this note: "Both precipitation and temperature were below normal in May. Precipitation was slightly over 1/3 of the normal while the temperature averaged 2.5 degrees below normal. Hampton - Dave Kessel noted the severe thunderstorm which crossed Hampton at 4:40 PM on the 1st. Winds gusted to 53 mph and his station and to 54 mph at Langley Field (Air Force Base), also in Hampton. Golfball to baseball size hail occurred at these stations, respectively. Herndon - Louisa - Rainfall for the month was 1.25", well-below the 3.21" 5-year average of 3.21". Mechanicsville - Strong thunderstorms moved through the area on the 9th. New Market - According to Joyce Winfree the month was drier and cooler than normal. She adds, "We are hurting for rain!" Newport News - A thunderstorm moved across Gary Leonard's station on the 1st that dropped hail the size of golf balls! A few isolated stones were even larger and ruined the new paint job on his auto. Temps averaged 4.5 degrees below normal. Norfolk - From NWS AKQ... May was a cool (-2.4 degrees) and dry month (-2.21"), continuing a string of cool, dry months which began at winter's end. The month tied for the 11th coolest on record. The high temp failed to break the 70 degree mark on 15 of 31 days! NWS AKQ vaguely mentions the great hailstorm of the 1st which inundated Norfolk producing millions of dollars in damage. [This is an argument against having WSOs produce monthly summaries when rarely are the summary writers in the locale where significant weather occurs; parallels the argument against having WBC in Northern VA prepare forecasts for Southern VA. Unless they are there, they don't have the proper respect for the local weather and often times fail to relate to the magnitude of severe weather experienced by the distant site.] Portsmouth - Well, the highlight of the month was clearly the worst hailstorm to ever hit the area! Now, I reside in the SE corner of Portsmouth and we saw no hail. But the attached article (online at http://www.pilot.infi.net/~bsmoot/hail5197.htm) clearly shows that the northern sections of Portsmouth were "winterized" quickly. This same hailstorm hit downtown Norfolk equally as hard. Hail damage reached $10 million dollars throughout SE VA. You read that right!! $10 million dollars!!!! Otherwise, May was a rather quiet month but was particularly cool (-2.9 degrees) and dry (-2.33"). The month was the second coldest at this station since 1976 (63.1 degree mean temp in 1992). Richmond - From NWS AKQ... May was a cool and dry month. The rainfall was nearly 2.5" below normal. Temperaturewise, the month was rather chilly but no record setter. Roanoke - Wendell reports that the past month was the 2nd driest May on record. Had it not been for the 0.39" falling on the last day of the month, May would have been the driest ever. The month tied with May 1994 as the coolest on record. The mean temp was 3.5 degrees below normal. Rainfall was 2.81" below normal. Washington (VA) - Our cool dry April has been followed by a cool dry May with only .53 inches recorded until the 25th of the month. However the dry spell appears to be over as I write this report on 6-1 substantial rain has already fallen and continues here. (report from Dave Yowell) Weems - Please note the sincere letter from Franklin attached herewith. (not posted on the Internet site) Woodstock - Second coldest and second driest May in 12 years! (reports from Lauck) Asheville - This was the coldest May on record!! (-4.7 degrees) and precip was 1.52" below normal. (from NWS GSP) Brevard - May 1997 was a relatively dry month with 3.38 inches recorded, the third lowest since my records began in 1990. It is the coolest May in my series with a mean high of 72.8 and mean low of 36.9 deg. F. Mean Thirty day degree-days, 183 heating, is the highest for the month while 18 cooling is the second lowest for the month. Charlotte - According to NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, "May was some 1.1 degrees below normal temperaturewise. Meanwhile, precip was 2.43 inches below normal." Greensboro - According to NWS RDU, Greensboro saw average temps some 3.0 degrees below normal while precip was far below the norm (-2.23"). Henderson - For the month, temp and precip were below normal. (from George Stevenson) Raleigh - Another pretty quiet month according to Bob. Cool temps kept thunderstorm activity to a minimum. The average number of thunderstorm days through the end of May is nearly 12, while only 8 thunderstorm days have been recorded in 1997. Raleigh - RDU noted a cool (-3.1 degrees) and dry (-1.7") May. (source: NWS RDU) Roxboro - Merriell Jay notes that May was cooler and drier than normal. Only 1/3 of the normal rainfall was recorded. The month's temps were like a roller coaster- from sweating to shivering! Columbia - A cool month here with the mean temp -2.9 degrees. While it was cooler, the month was a equally as dry, some 2.07 inches below the norm. Yearly rainfall is some 4.34" below normal. Greenville-Spartanburg - NWS GSP reports that the mean temp was -3.2 degrees while the total precip was 1.05" below normal. Ruby - A bit cooler in May for Ruby with rainfall being the lowest in quite some time- from Franklin Hancock. Wilmington - May was cooler than normal (-3.2 degrees). Meanwhile, abundant sunshine prevailed, with 82% of the possible (the normal is 62%)! (notes from NWS ILM) Tri-cities - The Bristol Tennessee area saw temps 5.1 degrees below normal making May 1997 the coldest on record (previous record was 58.7 set in 1967)! The precip total was 0.96" above norm! (source NWS TRI) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: (posted by permission) BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@citcom.net BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter wtrotter@whro.org RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@nmaa.org WSH David Yowell deyowell@mnsinc.com FCH Erica Page erica@erols.com RMD Roy Britt rbritt@erols.com NEW Joyce Winfree joywood@shentel.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------------