Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

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CXUS55 KBOU 071825
CLMDEN

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER, CO
1222 PM MDT FRI JUN 6 2013...CORRECTION...

..........MAY 2013 DRIER AND SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL..........

MAY 2013 STARTED OUT COLD AND WINTRY AS A LARGE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
OF LOW PRESSURE MOVED ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. THIS SYSTEM
BROUGHT 3.4 INCHES OF SNOW TO DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE
FIRST AND SECOND WITH TEMPERATURES 20 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL DURING
THIS PERIOD. THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 19 DEGREES ON THE MORNING OF
THE SECOND...WHICH TIES THE ALL TIME COLDEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE
MONTH OF MAY. TEMPERATURES REBOUNDED ON THE 3RD...HOWEVER THEY STILL
REMAINED AT BELOW NORMAL VALUES THROUGH THE 6TH. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE BROUGHT OVER A THIRD OF AN INCH OF RAIN TO DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FROM THE 7TH THROUGH THE 8TH. A LARGE UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WHICH AMPLIFIED OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN
REGION BROUGHT MUCH WARMER AND DRIER WEATHER TO NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO BEGINNING ON THE 12TH. HIGH TEMPERATURES FROM
THE 13TH THROUGH THE 17TH WERE IN THE 80`S. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF
87 DEGREES ON THE 14TH TIED A RECORD FOR THE DATE AND HIGH OF 88
DEGREES ON THE 17TH WAS THE WARMEST DAY OF THE MONTH. TEMPERATURES
COOLED OFF TO NEAR NORMAL ON THE 18TH AS AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM
MOVED INTO COLORADO FROM THE WEST. THIS SYSTEM BROUGHT ONLY LIGHT
PRECIPITATION TO DENVER. ON THE 24TH...A LARGE UPPER LEVEL STORM
SYSTEM DEVELOPED OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...WITH A DRY
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER COLORADO. THIS PATTERN BROUGHT ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION FROM THE 24TH THROUGH THE 28TH.
THIS SYSTEM FINALLY MOVED ACROSS COLORADO ON THE 29TH BRINGING
COOLER TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA.

TEMPERATURES:

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY WAS 57.9 DEGREES F
WHICH WAS 0.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. MAY OF 1934 WAS THE WARMEST MAY
ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 64.6 DEGREES F. THE COLDEST
MAY ON RECORD WAS 48.7 BACK IN 1917.

THERE WERE NO DAYS IN WHICH THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 90
DEGREES...AND NO DAYS IN WHICH THE DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE DID NOT
EXCEED 32 DEGREES F. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 88
DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED ON THE 17TH AND THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF
THE MONTH WAS 19 DEGREES ON THE MORNING OF THE 2ND.

BELOW IS A LIST OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR MAY 2013:

DAILY RECORDS:

DATE        TEMPERATURE     TYPE OF RECORD     OLD RECORD   YEAR LAST SET
MAY 2ND     19 DEGREES        RECORD LOW       22 DEGREES       1954
MAY 14TH    87 DEGREES     TIED RECORD HIGH    87 DEGREES       1996

MONTHLY RECORDS:

DATE        TEMPERATURE     TYPE OF RECORD     OLD RECORD   YEAR LAST SET
MAY 2ND     19 DEGREES      TIED RECORD LOW    19  DEGREES   MAY 3RD 1907

PRECIPITATION:

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MAY WAS 0.82 INCHES...WHICH IS 1.30
INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL 0F 2.12 INCHES. THE WETTEST MAY ON RECORD
OCCURRED WAY BACK IN 1876 WHEN 8.57 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS
RECORDED. THE 8.57 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION STILL HOLDS THE RECORD FOR THE
WETTEST MONTH IN DENVER WEATHER HISTORY. THAT SAME YEAR...PRESIDENT
ULYSSES S. GRANT ISSUED THE PROCLAMATION TO MAKE COLORADO THE 38TH STATE OF
THE UNION. THE DRIEST MAY ON RECORD OCCURRED BACK IN 1974...WHEN
ONLY 0.06 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED.

3.4 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED DURING THE MONTH...WHICH IS 2.3
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 1.1 INCHES. THE SNOWIEST MAY ON RECORD OCCURRED
WAY BACK IN 1898 WHEN 15.5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED.

ELEVEN THUNDERSTORMS WERE OBSERVED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT DURING
THE MONTH. THERE WAS ONLY ONE DAY WITH DENSE FOG WITH A VISIBILITY AT OR
BELOW 1/4 MILE DURING THE MONTH. A PEAK WIND OF 53 MPH FROM A
SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION WAS RECORDED ON THE 26TH.
...............................................................................

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2013...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2013

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              95   05/26/1942
 LOW               19   05/02/2013
                        05/03/1907
                        01/01/2000
HIGHEST            88   05/17        95      -7       93  05/22
LOWEST             19R  05/02        19       0       36  05/13
AVG. MAXIMUM     71.7              71.5     0.2     75.4
AVG. MINIMUM     44.1              42.7     1.4     45.5
MEAN             57.9              57.1     0.8     60.5
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.8    -0.8        2
DAYS MAX <= 32      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MIN <= 32      4               1.9     2.1        0
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.0     0.0        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM         8.57   1876
 MINIMUM         0.06   1974
TOTALS           0.82              2.12   -1.30     1.01
DAILY AVG.       0.03              0.07   -0.04     0.03
DAYS >= .01         7               9.4    -2.4        6
DAYS >= .10         3               4.8    -1.8        3
DAYS >= .50         0               1.2    -1.2        1
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.2    -0.2        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.33   05/07 TO 05/08           05/23 TO 05/23

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL           15.5  1898
TOTALS            3.4               1.1

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     253               265     -12      178
 SINCE 7/1       6055              5996      59     5393
COOLING TOTAL      42                21      21       45
 SINCE 1/1         42                22      20       51

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST                        10/07
LATEST                          05/05
.......................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              10.2
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   2/237
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    39/290    DATE  05/30
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    53/220    DATE  05/26

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            0
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             23
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          8

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     50

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                1     RAIN                       3
LIGHT RAIN               11     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       1
LIGHT SNOW                2     SLEET                      0
FOG                       8     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      1
HAZE                      6

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

$$



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