May 2023 Summary

A very dry May with average temperatures 

I know it was really hot at the end of May, but if you look back to the beginning of the month we had a few single digit temperatures.  In between there were some hot and some cold days, this made the overall temperature just slightly (0.1 degrees) above average.

As well, with the lack of precipitation (see below) and consequently lack of clouds, it made the daytime highs just a bit higher (1.6 degrees above average) and the nighttime lows just a bit lower (1.5 degrees below average).  

The last below zero temperature was May 18th, this is 12 days later than the average in the last 25 years of the Soulis Weather Station and the second latest during that time.  

But maybe a bigger story was the lack of precipitation, particularly the 11 days of dry weather to end the month.  About two thirds of the total precipitation of 31.6 mm came down during the first week, not leaving much for the rest of May, which typically has an average of 82.3 mm.

The first four months of the year were very wet, so even after this dry month, the total for the year of 405.6 mm is still well above the average of 340.2 mm.

Thanks to everyone who came out the to the 25th anniversary open house, it was great meeting people who are interested in the station, answering questions, and showing off the weather station equipment.  As you may have also noticed we have also renamed the station after the late professor Eric (Ric) Soulis, who was of course the driving force behind creating the station.  See pictures from the open house and renaming ceremony here:  http://uwweatherstation.blogspot.com/2023/06/25th-anniversary-open-house-and.html

Summary for May 2023:

Maximum Temperature 31.4°C
Minimum Temperature -1.1°C
Average Daily High Temperature 20.1°C (Long term average 18.5°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 5.0°C (Long term average 6.4°C)
Total Precipitation 31.6 mm (Long term average 82.3 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1981-2010 data for the Waterloo-Wellington Airport)