Category Archives: Earth Matters

Information about the climate and the well being of our planet.

U.S. Climate Report: May 2015

The May contiguous U.S. average temperature was 60.8°F, 0.6°F above the 20th century average, ranking near the median value in the 121-year record. Much of the East Coast and Northwest were warmer than average, particularly the Northeast where four states were record warm. Below-average temperatures were observed across the central United States. The spring (March–May) contiguous U.S average temperature was 53.2°F, 2.2°F above the 20th century average, and the 11th warmest on record.

The May precipitation total for the contiguous United States was 4.36 inches, 1.45 inches above average. This was the wettest May on record, and the wettest month of any month, in the 121-years of record keeping. For the spring season, the contiguous U.S. precipitation total was 9.33 inches, 1.39 inches above average, and the 11th wettest on record.

This monthly summary is provided by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

The maps below show how the average temperature, and precipitation values for the month of May 2015 deviate from the 30-year normals (1981-2010).

    – Click on Map to Zoom In –

PRISM_ppt_provisional_4kmM2_anomaly_201505

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