May 2016 Weather Summary
Geary County Extension Agent Chuck Otte has released his May weather summary for the county.
Just like April, May started out rather dry. But by the end of the month we had above average rainfall. Unlike the previous months of 2016 however,
temperatures were normal, in fact amazingly normal!
The average daily high temperature for May was 72.6 degrees, 2.5 degrees
below normal. The average overnight low for May was 55.3, 2.3 degrees
above normal. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 64.0 degrees
which is the normal May mean temperature. The reason that the average
high was 2.5 below normal and the average low was 2.3 above normal, yet
we ended up with a zero deviation from the norm is due to rounding errors. In
reality, anything within one half of a degree of the long term average would
usually be considered normal. The highest temperature in May was 84
degrees on the 11th and the lowest temperature was 42 degrees on the 13th.
There were no daily temperature records set or tied during May. The hottest
May on record was in 1962 when we had monthly mean temperature of 74.3.
The coldest May on record was in 1995 when we had a monthly mean
temperature of 57.8.
Just like April, rainfall was well below average in the first half of the month
and then well above average for the second half of the month. Normal May
rainfall is 4.79 inches. Milford Lake recieved 6.84 inches and Junction City
recieved 7.15 inches. A majority of that rainfall occurred in a five day period
(24th through 28th) when Junction City received 5.90 inches and Milford
Lake 5.82 inches. Given the wide area over which these rains, and
associated severe weather occurred, it´s no surprise that area lakes and
rivers were running full over the Memorial Day weekend! Year to date Milford
Lake has received 13.84 inches and Junction City 13.73 inches. Normal year
to date precipitation through the end of May is 11.85 inches. The wettest May
on record was in 1995 when 17.23 inches of rain flooded the region. The
driest May on record was 2009 when only 0.86 inches of rain fell. While this
year may seem wet, we need to remember that last year we had over 10
inches of rain during May!
June brings us the official start of summer and temperatures tend to reflect
that. Average daily highs during June range from 81 on the 1st to 90 on the
30th. Overnight lows start the month at 58 and by the end of the month reach
67. While we don´t regularly have daily highs in the 100’s, long term records
show that they are possible from about the 9th onward through September.
June is our wettest month of the year with long term average rainfall of 4.80
inches. But those averages can be deceiving. The driest June on record,
1966, received only 0.20 inches of rain and the wettest, 1965, received 11.90
inches. However, since 1931, only five years have seen June rainfall of less
than one inch.
Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Ag & Natural Resources