A Hot, Dry May And Warm Spring In Vermont Ends With A Cool, Wet Start To June

Some convection fires up near Burlington on May 14
after a record hot day.  May tied for the fourth hottest
on record in Burlington. 

UPDATE:

I found some other interesting climatology out of Burlington for this spring.

Turns out spring, 2022 was the fifth warmest on record in Burlington, with a mean temperature of 47.7 degrees  This takes into account meteorological spring, which runs from March 1 through May 31.

We've had back to back toasty springs. In 2021, spring was the seventh warmest.

As noted below, data for Burlington goes back to the 1880s. In keeping with climate change trends, four of the top 10 warmest springs in Burlington have happened since 2010.

The last time we had a spring that was among the top 10 coldest was in 1972. 

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

 It's cool and cloudy in Vermont this morning, as a few showers and thunderstorms race southeastward across the Green Mountain State. 

This state of affairs will continue today, as the disturbances race along yesterday's wrong way cold front, not stalled just to out south and west. 

Pretty much all of us will get wet today, with probably the heaviest rain I'm guessing to be along and south and west of Interstate 89.   It'll only get into the 60s today, which is definitely chillier than normal.

I guess Ma Nature needs a break from May, which was very warm and dry across Vermont. 

Burlington ended up tying the record for the fourth hottest May, with a mean temperature of 62.2 degrees. In keeping with the climate change trend, four of the top 10 hottest Mays in Burlington have occurred since 2012.  Records go back to the 1880s. 

In Burlington, ten days reached to 80 degrees or more, which is impressive.  Burlington had three record highs in a row on May 12-14, the first time there were three consecutive record highs since September, 2017

Although Burlington did not reach 90 degrees during May, we came close. Plus, Montpelier, St. Johnsbury and Bennington, along with other Vermont communities, did reach 90 degrees during the month. 

Everybody in Vermont was at least three degrees warmer than normal in May. Remember, this is the warmer "new" normal that started last year.  This new normal takes into account the average of the years 1990 to 2020, which were warmer than previous periods. 

Rainfall was unfortunately on the light side, except around Rutland, which was bullseyed by intense thunderstorms at mid month. Most towns in Vermont were nearly an inch on the light side. 

Partly because of the unusual warmth in May, scattered severe thunderstorms made appearances, especially at mid-month and in scattered fashion on May 21. 

Despite a relative lack of rain in May, Vermont is not under any kind of drought or real drought risk as U.S. Drought Monitor maps indicate.

You never know what the new month will ultimately bring to Vermont, but signs are fairly encouraging. We have several chances of rain over the next week, starting with today. Long range forecasts into mid June call for near average temperatures and somewhat wetter than average conditions in Vermont.