May State of the Climate [1]
Ncdc.noaa.go - 6/14/13
- limate Highlights — year-to-date (January — May)
- The year-to-date national temperature [2] of 43.6°F was 0.2°F above the 20th century average. Below-average temperatures [3] were observed for much of the central United States, from Rockies to the Mid-Atlantic. The Northeast and parts of the West [3] had above-average year-to-date temperatures.
- The January-May precipitation total [4] for the contiguous U.S. was 12.28 inches, 0.33 inch above average. North Dakota [5], Minnesota [6], Wisconsin [7], Missouri [8], and Mississippi [9] each had a top ten wet 5-month period; Iowa [10], Illinois [11], and Michigan [12] were record wet during January-May.
- The West, Southern Plains, and Northeast were drier than average [13]. Oregon [14], Nevada [15], Idaho [16] each had a top ten dry year-to-date period, while California [17] had its driest January-May on record with 4.09 inches of precipitation, 9.87 inches below average.
- During both the year-to-date and 3-month timescales, the number of fires, acreage burned, and acres burned per fire were record low [18].
- The USCEI [19] for the year-to-date period was near average. However, several of the components were above average. The component for extremes in 1-day precipitation [20] totals was 200 percent of average and the highest value on record for the 5-month period, while the component that examines the spatial extent of drought [21] was 270 percent of average and the ninth highest
- Link: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2013/5