Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY
963
CXUS51 KBUF 030320
CLMBUF
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1122 AM EDT SAT JUN 01 2024
...................................
...THE BUFFALO NY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2024...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2024
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 94 05/22/1911
LOW 25 05/04/1926
HIGHEST 86 05/20 87 05/31
05/22
LOWEST 42 05/11 34 05/18
AVG. MAXIMUM 73.3 67.4 5.9 67.4
AVG. MINIMUM 54.2 48.3 5.9 45.8
MEAN 63.7 57.9 5.8 56.6
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.2 -0.2 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.2 -0.2 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 8.09 2011
MINIMUM 0.53 1877
TOTALS 2.61 3.37 -0.76 1.15
DAYS >= .01 13 7
DAYS >= .10 8 4
DAYS >= .50 2 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.88 05/28 TO 05/29 0.43 05/19 TO 05/20
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 7.9 1989
TOTALS 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SINCE 7/1 71.3 95.4 -24.1
SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0
DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS >= 0.1 0 0
GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH 0 0 MM
24 HR TOTAL MM
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 93 254 -161 278
SINCE 7/1 5161 6412 -1251 MM
COOLING TOTAL 59 32 27 25
SINCE 1/1 60 34 26 MM
................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.1
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 32/230 DATE 05/22
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 50/250 DATE 05/08
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 5
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 17
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 9
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 66
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 4 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 3 RAIN 4
LIGHT RAIN 18 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0
FOG 15 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 6
HAZE 2
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
&&
... A PLEASANT, BUT ABNORMALLY WARM MONTH ...
THE BEAT JUST GOES ON FOR WESTERN NEW YORK AS A MILD AIRFLOW PATTERN
THAT BEGAN AT THE START OF WINTER, CONTINUED THROUGH THE FINAL DAYS
OF METEOROLOGICAL SPRING. PLEASANT DAYS WITH TOLERABLE HUMIDITY
LEVELS OCCURRED FOR MUCH OF THE MONTH, WITH A PORTION OF THE MONTHLY
RAIN AT NIGHT.
THE TEMPERATURE AVERAGED 63.7F THIS MAY WHICH RANKS 4TH WARMEST MAY
ON RECORD. TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR BUFFALO DATE BACK TO 1871. FOR
THE YEAR, THE 5-MONTH AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 43.8F RANKS TIED FOR
WARMEST ON RECORD WITH THE YEAR 2012. THE MONTHS OF FEBRUARY THROUGH
MAY ALL RANKED WITHIN THEIR RESPECTIVE TOP 10 WARMEST MONTHS ON
RECORD. THERE WERE 8 DAYS THAT FINISHED AT OR BELOW NORMAL, THESE
OCCURRING THE PERIOD OF MAY 9TH TO 12TH AS WELL AS MAY 28TH TO 31ST.
THERE WAS AN EVEN SPREAD TO THE WARMTH WITH THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL THE SAME AT 5.9 DEGREES. THERE
WAS VERY LITTLE EXCESSIVE HEAT THIS MONTH, WITH THE 5 DAYS IN THE
80S JUST ONE DAY MORE THAN A TYPICAL MAY. THERE WAS ONE RECORD, WITH
THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE ON THE 21ST OF 68F BREAKING THE FORMER
RECORD WARM MINIMUM OF 67F SET BACK IN 1959.
PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH FELL THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH BELOW
NORMAL. THE WETTEST DAY WAS THE 28TH WHEN A SERIES OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AIRPORT ACCUMULATED 0.81 INCHES OF RAIN IN
THE RAIN GAUGE. THOUGH DRY, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF DAYS WITH MINOR
RAINFALL, AND FOR THE MONTH THE 13 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE
PRECIPITATION IS ONE DAY MORE THAN NORMAL. STRONG THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY WAS SLOW TO START THIS SPRING, AND THE FIRST SEVERE OF THE
YEAR FOR WESTERN NEW YORK DID NOT OCCUR UNTIL THE 22ND OF MAY, WITH
STORMS BLOSSOMING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF WESTERN NEW YORK WITH
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.
THE FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH WAS SPLENDID, WITH DAYTIME TEMPERATURES
ABOVE NORMAL, AND OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE LOWER 50S, ALLOWING FOR OPEN
WINDOW FRESH-AIR SLEEPING CONDITIONS. THE EXCEPTION WAS THE 5TH WHEN
AN AREA OF SHOWERS FROM THE SOUTH SLOWLY PASSED ACROSS WESTERN NEW
YORK. A WARM FRONT EXTENDED INTO WESTERN NEW YORK THE EARLY MORNING
OF THE 8TH, WITH STRONG OVERNIGHT THUNDERSTORMS AWAKING BUFFALO.
THE MORNING OF THE 16TH SAW AREAS OF DENSE FOG OVER WESTERN NEW
YORK. A COLD FRONT BROUGHT A PERIOD OF SHOWERS THE AFTERNOON OF THE
17TH, WITH OVER A HALF AN INCH OF RAIN FALLING. THE 19TH THROUGH THE
22ND FEATURED A PERIOD OF VERY WARM TEMPERATURES, ALONG WITH A BIT
OF HUMIDITY IN THE AIR. A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE AROUND
BUFFALO ON THE 22ND, WITH STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN REGION OF WESTERN NEW YORK. THIS WAS ALSO THE BEGINNING OF
A STRETCH OF 7 OF 8 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE RAINFALL. THOUGH MUCH OF
THE ACTIVITY WAS SCATTERED AND LIGHT, A SERIES OF STORMS ARRIVING
FROM THE NORTHWEST ON THE 28TH REPEATEDLY PASSED OVER BUFFALO.
FOLLOWING A COLD FRONT ON THE 29TH WITH SOME EARLY MORNING SHOWERS,
LIGHT NORTHERLY FLOW BROUGHT LOW HUMIDITY, ABUNDANT SUNSHINE AND
PLEASANT CONDITIONS THE FINAL TWO DAYS OF MAY.
THE WATER TEMPERATURE ON LAKE ERIE REMAINED NEAR OR AT RECORD LEVELS
THROUGH THE MONTH. STARTING MAY AT 49F DEGREES, LAKE ERIE WARMED TO
64F DEGREES THE FINAL DAYS OF THE MONTH. WINDS WERE A BIT BELOW
NORMAL, AND THE STRONGEST GUST OF 50 MILES PER HOUR FROM THE
SOUTHWEST ON THE 8TH OCCURRED WITHIN AN EXPANDING LAKE BREEZE
CIRCULATION.
IN ALL A PLEASANT MONTH, THAT AGAIN FEATURED LIMITED BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURE DAYS.
&&
THOMAS
$$