May 1998 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

The heat continued in Saint Cloud during May 1998. The average
temperature of 62.2 degrees marked the 7th warmest May on record and
was more than 6 1/4 degrees above normal. The high temperatures in May
were the most extreme (5.5 degrees above normal). The extreme high
temperatures included 3 days of highs of 90 degrees or higher, the
first time that this has happened since 1934. The high temperature of
94 on May 18 was the highest May temperature recorded in almost 30 years
(May 27, 1969 had a high of 97 degrees). The 3 90-degree days are already
as many, if not more, than 3 other years in the '90's. The normal number
of 90 degree days for May is 0.5 and for the year is 10.7 (see tables
below). Only 1995 of the 1990's has had more than the average 90 degree
days. 1998 is off to the fast start, but long range forecasting does not
work well during the summer and the immediate forecast is a return to
normal or below normal temperatures this week.

Only 3 days in May (22, 24, 31) had average temperatures below
normal and only 5 days this May (8, 22, 24, 30, 31) had high temperatures
below normal.

The warm conditions in May helped to account for the 8th warmest
spring (March 1-May 31) on record. The average spring temperature of
47.0 degrees was more than 5.5 degrees above normal and was the warmest
spring since 1987.

The heavy rain and thunderstorms on Saturday bumped the May preci-
pitation above normal by about 1/2 inch. Since the dominant form of
precipitation is thunderstorms, rainfall accumulation around Central
Minnesota will vary. The rain gauge at SCSU picked up almost 3/4 inch
more rain in May (4.41 inches) with the biggest discrepancy on the 18th
(airport .06 in, SCSU .38 in).

MAY 1998 STATISTICS            MAY 1998        NORMAL
TEMPERATURE
Average High                     75.9           68.4
Average Low                      48.5           43.4
Average Temp                     62.2*          55.9
Warmest high temperature          94 on the 18th (record; see below)
				  warmest May high since 27 May 1969 (97)
Coldest high temperature          61 on the 31st 
Mildest low temperature           63 on the 14th (record; see below)
Coldest low temperature           38 on the 1st,6th
*8th Warmest May in St. Cloud history

RAINFALL (in)                    3.67           3.16
Most in 24 hours                 1.19 on the 8th

RECORDS SET: 
Daily warmest high temperature: 90 (tie) on the 17th (tied record from 1972)
				94 on the 18th (old record: 90 in 1911)***
Daily warmest low temperature:  63 on the 14th (old record: 60 in 1944, 1962)
***warmest May high since May 27, 1969

SPRING STATISTICS              SPRING 1998      NORMAL
Average Temperature               47.0**         42.3
Total Melted Precip(in)           7.59           6.92
**7th warmest spring in St. Cloud history (105 yrs)


		DAYS WITH 90+ DEG HIGHS IN MAY
		==============================
			 5  1900
			 5  1934
			 4  1911
			 4  1913
			 4  1926
			 3  1925
			 3  1998 <---6TH (TIE), MOST SINCE 1934

		DAYS WITH 90+ DEG HIGHS (YEAR) IN 1990'S
		========================================
			15  1995
			 9  1991
			 5  1996
			 4  1990
			 4  1997
			 3  1992
			 3  1994
			 3  1998
			 1  1993
   AVG NUMBER OF 90+ DEG DAYS PER YEAR: 10.7
   AVG NUMBER OF 90+ DEG DAYS IN MAY:    0.5
			 

     ST. CLOUD TEMPS--SPRING    (118 YEARS; AVG = 42.3 F; SDEV =  2.9 F)

	WARMEST                          COLDEST

     50.0 F  1977                     34.4 F  1888
     49.1 F  1910                     35.8 F  1950
     48.7 F  1987                     37.3 F  1907
     47.8 F  1911                     37.5 F  1943
     47.3 F  1985                     37.6 F  1996
     47.1 F  1902                     37.7 F  1940
     47.0 F  1998  <-- 7TH WARMEST;   37.7 F  1965
     46.3 F  1889     WARMEST SINCE   37.9 F  1893
     46.3 F  1988     1987            38.0 F  1975
     46.3 F  1918                     38.2 F  1897
     
     ST. CLOUD TEMPS--MAY       (118 YEARS; AVG = 56.1 F; SDEV =  3.7 F)

	WARMEST                          COLDEST

     66.2 F  1934                     47.2 F  1907
     64.4 F  1887                     49.2 F  1945
     64.4 F  1977                     49.4 F  1924
     63.6 F  1988                     49.8 F  1885
     63.2 F  1881                     50.2 F  1954
     62.7 F  1911                     50.4 F  1967
     62.6 F  1939                     50.5 F  1888
     62.2 F  1998 <-- 8TH WARMEST;    50.5 F  1947
     61.8 F  1900  WARMEST SINCE      50.9 F  1892
     61.4 F  1926  1988               51.1 F  1997