06/04/2020
Ed Hummel's Garland Climatology for May, 2020 (35 year averages in parentheses):
average max: 70.3F (68.0F)
average min: 43.0F (44.2F)
extreme max: 95F
extreme min: 29F
total precipitation: 2.91 in. (4.43 in.)
total snowfall: 1.2 in. (0.1 in.)
Despite some chilly conditions earlier in the month because of a preponderance of Canadian air that even brought us some measurable snow, the month as a while ended up being a bit warmer than average because of two second half mini heat waves as the jet stream pattern underwent a dramatic change from the first half of the month. Whereas during the early part of the month we saw a continuation of the extreme southern location of the polar jet that occasionally even moved as far south as Florida, the second half of the month generally saw a reversal of the jet into southern Canada which enabled some very warm and even some tropical air to invade northern New England on two separate occasions. We even had one day that saw widespread 90s across much of the state away from the coast while persistent sea breezes kept much cooler ocean air hanging along most of the immediate coast while the interior sweltered in mid-summer heat. The air also tended to be quite dry for most of the time except for when the tropical air invaded and that led to total precipitation that was over and inch and a half less than usual. Most of the rains that we did have tended to come in showery bursts and many times didn’t amount to much. The total heating degrees came to 254 compared to an average of 276 which showed the slightly warmer than usual average conditions. This compares to 387 for last year which was a significantly cooler than usual month of May.
