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Denver Climatological Preview - May 2010 |
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Preview of Denver's May Weather - The One Constant - Change!
This being the latter half of spring, May does mean warm temperatures. Temperatures in the 80’s are common and reaching into the 90’s is not unheard of. The normal highs start out at 65 on the first but by the end of the month that climbs to 76. The record high for the month was recorded on May 26, 1942 of 95 degrees. While that warmth may sound inviting, we usually aren’t done with the cold just yet. The average day of the last freeze is May 5th but the latest date is June 8th so it can remain cold at night. In fact, the record low for May was on the 3rd of the month in 1907 when Denver got down to 19 degrees. To further drive that point home, the record low temperature for each day of May is at or below the freezing mark except on two days (the 27th and 31st). Don’t get too discouraged though as the normal low is 39 on the 1st of the month and it climbs throughout the month to a normal low of 49 degrees on the 31st. Snow can and does fall in May with an average of 1.3 inches of the white stuff coming down in Denver. However, the onset of warmer temperatures coupled with Denver's high elevation intensifies late season cold air masses and on the average May snow occurs in about two out of every five years. This serves to somewhat skew what the average snowfall measurement really means. In essence, we have years without snow in May and years with a good bit of it. Notably, 14 of the last 18 Mays have seen very little snow. Ten saw no snow whatsoever (including 2009), 0.1 inch in two years and a trace in two other years. The one notable year out of the last 17 was in 2003 when snow started falling on the 9th of the month and continued overnight before stopping with 7 inches on the ground in Denver. That particular storm caused tremendous amounts of damage to area trees as it was a typical spring storm and very wet. Most trees had opened up and had all their leaves out and even thick branches snapped under the weight of the snow. The year of 1898 holds the record when 15.5 inches of snow fell during May that year. Severe weather season normally gets started in earnest in May with violent thunderstorms and large hail and tornadoes a possibility. Moisture spinning up from the Gulf of Mexico into the state collides with cold air from Canada or the Pacific Northwest making conditions ripe for these types of events. Remember that it was on May 22nd of 2009 that the Windsor Tornado struck so the danger is very real. May is the wettest month of the year and on the average precipitation occurs once every three days. An average of 2.32 inches of precipitation falls during the month. For you sun lovers, unfortunately we have to report that May is tied with November as having the lowest percentage of possible sunshine. Looking Back - May 2009 In hindsight, May of 2009 was a harbinger of the severe weather that was to come in June. On the 23rd and 24th funnel clouds were observed at Denver International Airport (DIA). as well as in other places across the metro area. Highlands Range, Aurora, and Bennett all reported funnel clouds and one was reported over Thornton on the 25th. None touched the ground and no damage was reported but it put the area that severe weather season had arrived. In terms of temperature, the official monitoring station at DIA recorded an average of 59.0 degrees - 1.8 degrees above the normal of 57.2 degrees. The warmest temperature of the month of 90 degrees was recorded on the 19th. This broke the previous record for the date of 89 degrees set in 2006. The coldest temperature of the month was 36 degrees on the 14th. Thornton's temperatures were similar to DIA's with an average of 58.9 degrees, a high of 89.4 degrees and a low of 38.4 degrees. Precipitation continued the trend experienced since the start of 2009 with below normal precipitation. 1.3 inches of precipitation was recorded, well below the normal of 2.32 inches. No precipitation records were set during the month. Here in Thornton we recorded 1.65 inches of precipitation, most of which fell during the stormy period between the 24th and 26th of the month. Denver averages 1.3 inches of snow in May but we saw none at all in 2009. This wasn't entirely unusual and was the 41st time that no snow was recorded during May since 1882. May 2010 Outlook The Climate Prediction Center's 30-day outlook model indicates that Denver will have temperatures in May around normal with above normal precipitation expected. Se the normals listed below for guidance. For More Information Temperature Normals and Extremes for May Monthly Temperature, Rainfall and Snowfall Extremes for May
* Historical weather statistics gathered from the National Weather Service's Denver / Boulder forecast office data archives. |
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Colorado natives and those that have lived here long enough know that Denver and Colorado weather changes considerably throughout the year. The month of May almost seems to pack four seasons of weather conditions into 31 days. You name it, it can happen. 
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