Merry month of May May is the fifth month of the year and here in the Northern Hemisphere it is the last month of spring. Late May typically marks the start of the summer vacation season in the United States and Canada. At Grand Rapids we start the month off with a length of day time of 14 hours and 7 minutes and end the month with 15 hours and 7 minutes for a gain of one hour. In Grand Rapids the average high starts out at 64.3 and ends the month at 74.9. The average low starts out at 43.2 and ends the month at 53.8. The all-time high for May is 95 on May 31, 1934, on May 28, 2018 the high reached 94. The record low of 21 was set on May 1st, 1903. The most snow fall on any day in May is 5.5” and that amount fell on May 10th in 1902 and that same amount of 5.5” was reported on May 9th, 1923. On May 32nd 1929 3” of snow fell and in May of 1954 snow fell for 3 days in a row. The record wettest May is 10.01” and that fell in May of 2001 and the driest May was in 1936 when just 0.72” fell. Here are some May top 5’s There have been a total of 12 years when measurable snow fell in May The last time was on May 1st, 1994. The average May mean at Grand Rapids is 59.2 Warmest mean temperature 1. 1977 65.7 2. 1896 65.3 3. 1982 65.0 4. 2018 64.8 5. 1991 64.6 Coldest mean temperature 1. 1997 50.3 2. 1924 50.7 3. 1945 50.7 4. 1947 51.1 5. 1917 51.7 Snowiest May’s of record 1. 1902 5.5” 2. 1923 5.5” 3. 1954 3.0” 4. 1940 0.8” 5. 1935 0.4” Wettest May’s of record 1. 2001 10.01” 2. 2000 9.59” 3. 2004 9.29” 4. 1981 8.29” 5. 1911 7.18” Driest May’s of record 1. 1936 0.72” 2. 2023 0.84” 3. 1987 0.94” 4. 1925 0.89” 5. 1961 1.03” Last year the mean for May at Grand Rapids was 57.2 that was a departure from average of -2.2° the high for the month was 85 on the 15th There were 3 days of 80 or better 13 days of 70 or better there were 6 days of highs only in the 50’s the low for the month was 33 on the 9th there were 3 nights with lows of less than 40. The month had 3.35” of rainfall that is a departure from average of 0.65” It looks like according to the CPC that May 2026 will be chilly and that is a common occurrence with a May leading into a strong or very strong El Nino. https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/30day/ The overnight low here in my yard was 38 and the 7AM temperature is 39 with cloudy skies. There remains a good chance of a freeze tonight with lows around 30 and frost once again tomorrow with lows in the low 30’s next week looks cold with highs only in the 50’s and low in 30’s and lower 40’s there is a chance of rain each day. Detailed Forecast Today A 20 percent chance of showers after 2pm. Areas of frost before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 52. Light north northeast wind becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Tonight Widespread frost, mainly after 2am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 30. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light north northwest after midnight. Saturday Widespread frost, mainly before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Light north northwest wind becoming west northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Saturday Night Widespread frost, mainly between midnight and 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 34. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming south southwest after midnight. Sunday A 30 percent chance of showers. Areas of frost before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 59. Southwest wind 8 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Sunday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. Monday A 30 percent chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. Monday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. Tuesday A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Tuesday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Wednesday A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Wednesday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. Thursday A chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 56.

2022 was truly depressing. The relentless rain in the spring and then no rain for almost 5 months and the subsequent fires and long term damage to the fir trees in our area. I blame that Tonga volcano for the craziness. Last night I was thinking about how odd it was to have accumulating snow during what ended up being such a sunny, warm April overall this year. Random event that rivaled 2008 for latest accumulating snow in my area.

Happy May day! 47 degrees to start so far..

https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/enso_faq/ Found another from 1997! Revised of course, modernized for the brand new year of 2003 Here's an interesting excerpt from the La Niña section: "Scientists have never predicted La Niña and it is difficult to agree on what constitutes La Niña. La Niña events with significant impacts are fairly unusual." Seems we've come a ways

https://faculty.washington.edu/kessler/occasionally-asked-questions.html If any of you guys want to learn more about ENSO obscura, I just came across this link-within-a-link. There are so many random weather tidbit html websites like this littered all over the internet, made by college students and pro mets years or even decades ago, still technically accessible by stray links, kept active by the forever running servers on college campuses and government facilities.