MAY 21-31, 2020 – RELATIVELY COOL, CLOUDY RELATIVELY DRY THROUGH PERIOD UPDATE FOR WEST ROCKVILLE MARYLAND
Our generally cooler than normal pattern persisted over the last third of the month, with a few notable warm 80s max interludes. We continued to also be drier than normal though we did have 5 measurable rainfall days for the 11 day period along with at least partially cloudy skies on 10 of the 11 days during the period. We had a total of 2.22 inches of rain in May (including 0.87″ during this particular period) and 16.76 inches for the year through May 31. Minimum temperatures at or below the freezing mark have headed elsewhere till the fall, as we only had one day with mins in the 40s (21st – 48.2°). During this latest 11 day period the highest temperature reached was 85.7 degrees on the 29th. There was only one truly totally sunny day during the period, with 9 partly and 1 cloudy days.
Daily precip, max/min temperature values, general sky condition, and Peak Wind Gust (PWG) for each day of the period include:
5/21 0.00 69.8 48.2 PCloudy, breezy – 21 S
5/22 0.43 71.5 59.6 Cloudy, rainy – 17 W
5/23 0.26 80.6 61.9 Foggy, rain AM, PC PM – 19 NW
5/24 0.00 70.7 59.1 PCloudy, AM fog, cooler – 14 E
5/25 0.00 75.1 60.5 PCloudy, milder – 9 E
5/26 0.00 81.3 58.7 PCloudy, warmer – 12 S
5/27 0.00 77.6 63.8 PCloudy, a tad cooler – 14 SE
5/28 0.11 81.1 69.4 PCloudy, warmer, more humid, light AM fog, showers – 23 SW
5/29 0.02 85.7 69.7 PCloudy, quite warm, humid, becoming windy late – 35 W
5/30 0.05 81.3 64.5 PCloudy, a bit cooler, less humid, light AM rain, breezy early – 28 W
5/31 0.00 72.8 57.1 Sunny, cooler. less humid, pleasant – 23 N
The 5 measurable rainfall days were light and spread fairly evenly during the period. Dew points started to climb towards summerlike values, initially in the 50s but rising through the 60s mid-period into the low-mid 70s towards the end of the month. Soil moisture remained at safe levels for the start of the growing season.
The current temperature is 63.6 degrees at 0306 on June 3 with fair skies. The temperature is on the rise today into our first 90+ max day of the season after a very pleasant first two days of the month. Storms and high dew points should develop the remaining days of the workweek, with some relief promised over the weekend.