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Climate of 2002 - May |
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Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.
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Contents of This Report:The picture to the left shows flooded mobile homes in Lawrenceville, Illinois. Much above average precipitation led to widespread flooding in areas of the Midwest in May.
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Temperature Analysis
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May 2002 temperatures were much below normal in parts of Montana and the Dakotas. While much of the country had below normal temperatures for May, the southwest region was warmer than average for the 3rd consecutive May. |
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The percent area of the contiguous United States very warm and cold and very wet and dry is listed in the table below. These percentages are computed based on the climate division data set. Those climate divisions having the monthly average temperature in the top ten percentile of their historical distribution are very warm and those in the bottom ten percentile are very cold. Likewise, those divisions having the monthly total precipitation in the top ten percentile are very wet and those in the bottom ten percentile are very dry.
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| The graph to the right shows a temperature time series for Alaska. In May, temperatures averaged across the state were well above the long-term mean following 3 Mays of below average temperature. However, only 3 of the last 10 Mays have been below the mean. |
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May temperatures in the Northeast region were below the long term mean in 2002, in sharp contrast to the last 4 years.
Temperature time series for all regions can be found in the table below. |
Precipitation Analysis
| Nationwide, May precipitation was below average, ranking 30th driest. Record dryness occurred in southern and western Arizona, and much below average precipitation extended throughout the western states and the South. In contrast, other areas experienced much above average precipitation including Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. |
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May 2002 was the 9th wettest May in the 1895 to present record for the Central region. As can be seen in the graph to the left, May precipitation in the Central region is characterized by significant year-to-year variability.
Precipitation time series for all regions can be found in the table below. |
| The growing season runs from March through September for the Primary Corn and Soybean Belt. Preliminary data indicate that precipitation was above average for the third month of the growing season. Above average May precipitation has been recorded in 7 of the last 8 years for this region. For the spring season (Mar-May), precipitation was also above normal for the first time in 3 years. |  |
Regional Temperature and Precipitation Time Series
View a temperature or precipitation time series for any region from the table below. Click on a region's precipitation or temperature rank to view the 1895-2002 May time series.
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Historical precipitation and temperature ranking maps are also available courtesy of the Climate Prediction Center.
Additional information about current climate anomalies can be found at the respective Web Pages of the Southern Regional Climate Center, Western Regional Climate Center, Midwest Regional Climate Center, Southeast Regional Climate Center, High Plains Regional Climate Center, and the Northeast Regional Climate Center.
Other Notable Weather Events - May
Much of the following information is derived from NOAA's Climate Information Project and NCDC's Climate Watch web-pages. Further details can be found on these and other U.S. and global weather events by clicking on the above links.FLOODS:
Tug Fork River, which separates West Virginia and Kentucky, crested at nearly 20ft above flood stage on Friday May 3rd and led to the deaths of at least six people. About 7,000 customers in West Virginia were without running water on Sunday the 7th. In Fort Gay several million gallons of coal waste spilled into the town's drinking water supply. This is the third such accident in three years (AP and COMTEX).
AP reported that heavy rains on Tuesday May 7th in western Indiana caused riverbanks to burst and prompted evacuations. Flash flooding also led to evacuations in south-central Ohio. Storms battered central West Virginia, killing at least one person and stranding approximately two-dozen people at a campground. In Webster County, WV, 2,000 structures were damaged and 197 homes destroyed. At least two people died in the floods in Virginia. Four counties in WV, (McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming), and two in VA, (Buchanan and Tazewell), were declared disaster areas by President Bush. Hundreds of homes and other structures have also been damaged and destroyed in Kentucky and more than 1,000 residents were evacuated from Kentucky and western Virginia.
USA Today reported that by mid-month, nine deaths had resulted from flooding in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana where several rivers overflowed their banks after days of heavy rains. Major flooding occurred along the Mississippi as well as the Kankakee and White River in Indiana. The Grand River in western Missouri flooded 38,000 acres of rural land.
STORMS:
AP reported that a tornado hit the town of Happy, TX early on Sunday May 5th killing two people and destroying ten homes and damaging about 50 other buildings. It was one of at least 6 tornadoes reported in west Texas and the Panhandle on the 5th. Happy, TX is located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Amarillo.
FIRE:
A fire in New Mexico destroyed 13 homes, 27 garages and other structures, and 5 vehicles, and burned more than 15,500 acres (AP). The man who accidentally started the wildfire in the Sacramento Mountains later committed suicide. In another fire in southern Arizona, 36,000 acres of dry grass and oak brush burned during the first week of May. In southern Colorado, a 600-acre wildfire in Custer County burned two houses. In another fire in Colorado, 25 miles west of Denver, thousands of residents were evacuated as fire crews fought a 400-acre wildfire.
AP reported that a wildfire in New Mexico forced 300 residents of Dalton and Pecos canyons to evacuate their homes on Monday May 6th. No homes were burned and no fire-related injuries reported. In Colorado, grass fires outside of Colorado Springs burned more than 6,000 acres and caused delays in Springs Airport due to poor visibility. The fires also closed roads and forced the evacuation of some farm animals (AP).
California fires burning in Angeles National Forest burned 5,065 acres as of May 14th (CNN). The smoke from the blaze was visible blowing over the Santa Barbara Channel and smoke could be smelled in downtown Los Angeles, 30 miles south.
A wildfire in Arizona burned more than 1,300 acres and came within three miles of downtown Prescott (AP). The blaze burned five homes and two other buildings and forced the evacuation of 4,000 people. Three other wildfires were contained in Arizona, which has had the driest fall and winter in more than 100 years.
The Vinasale Fire in Alaska scorched approximately 49,600 acres in May. The MP 78 Elliott Highway Fire in Alaska burned approximately 83,000 acres (CIP). AP reported that a wildfire, 15 miles north of Tucson, burned 19,300 acres coming within a mile from two houses and an observatory. In New Mexico, a fire burned 12,772 acres in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In Alaska a 14,430-acre fire near Chena Hot Springs threatened Angel Creek Lodge and some remote cabins.
Questions?
For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: questions@ncdc.noaa.gov
For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
Catherine Godfrey
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Catherine.S.Godfrey@noaa.gov
Jay Lawrimore
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
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