May 2003 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Subject: Saint Cloud Weather Summary for May 2003 and Spring 2003

Wet in a Different Way

     May 2003 in Saint Cloud had above normal rainfall, but in a different way than was the case in April. In April, Saint Cloud State University (the official reporting site during the snow season) picked up 4.73 inches of precipitation, most of which fell in a 5-day period. During May, the Saint Cloud Municipal Airport received 3.81 inches of rainfall, 0.84 inch above normal. However, the rain was much more spread out in May. There were 12 days with measurable rainfall in May compared to only 6 days in April. In fact, there was measurable rainfall this past month for 9 days during the 11 day period between May 5 and May 14.

     The frequent cloudiness and rainfall kept May temperatures below normal. The average temperature was 55.2°F, 1.6°F below normal. All May statistics

    May 31 marks the end of meteorological spring. The above-normal rainfall in April and May led to a spring total of 10.01 inches. This was more than double the average spring precipitation. This total was also the 14th highest spring rainfall of the 108 springs in Saint Cloud records. Still, this total was exceeded by more than 3 inches two years ago, thanks to the wettest April in Saint Cloud history Top 10 Wettest Springs in Saint Cloud history

   .The wet conditions were common throughout central Minnesota. The May 27 weekly precipitation map from the Minnesota State Climatologist Office shows that parts of central and eastern Minnesota including the Mississippi River Valley from Camp Ripley through Elk River, the northern portion of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area and most of the state directly to the east or southeast of Mille Lacs Lake, including Mora, Hinckley, and Pine City have received more than one and a half times the normal rainfall since April 1. The dryness eased somewhat in the northern third of the state, but much of the North Woods is more than 30% short on rainfall this season after a low snowfall winter and a dry growing season last year.

     The average spring temperature of 42.3°F was 0.6°F cooler than normal. March and April had near normal snowfall (although the April snow was entirely in the form of sleet), so the spring ended up with 11.6 inches of snow, within one-half inch of normal. However, the total snowfall for the 2002-2003 cold season was 32.0 inches, 13.5 inches below normal. This also ranked as the 36th lowest snowfall in the 97 years of Saint Cloud snowfall records. Believe it or not, this breaks a string of two years with above normal snowfall. (Link to recent Saint Cloud monthly snowfall)

    May 2003 Statistics

Spring (Mar. 1-May 31) 2003 Statistics