Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Surplus Of Rain Falls In May

While it seemed as though May was an extremely dry month, the fifth month of 1998 ended with a surplus of rainfall.

The normal amount of rain the region with no rain in May. The previous record was 16 days in 1995.

The driest May on record, Teeter said, was in 1932, when only 1.19 inches of wet stuff fell. The wettest May, though, came in 1905, when a deluge of 14.15 inches of rain came from the heavens.

According to Teeter, May often produces unusual weather patterns.

On May 6, 1960, he said, the worst tornado to hit Prescott occurred around 2:10 a.m. The twister's path was a mile long and 200 yards wide. The storm caused more then $2 million in damage, injuring two, but killing no one. It also resulted in 166 insurance claims being filed.

On May 17, 1968, he said, straight line winds estimated at 80 miles per hour swept across the southeast part of Prescott. The winds knocked down many trees and took out power lines.

Teeter said parts of the city were without electricity for almost two days, while Highway 19 South was closed for two days. There were 100 insurance claims filed because of this storm.

On May 28, 1979, he said, the county experienced its first weather related death since the 1914 Bodcaw tornado occurred at 3:15p.m. In 1979, Teeter said, lightning killed an outdoor worker west of town.

Looking at June, Teeter said the normal rainfall amount is 5.41 inches, while the average temperature is 789.1 degrees. There are usually six weather watches or warnings during the month as well.

"I was digging through our records this week," Teeter said, "and found some notes by R.P. Hamby, my predecessor, as weather observer.

Probably the first weather observations made in this area were by steamboat captains on the Red River during the early 1800's."

Navigation on the upper part of the Red, he said, was limited by low water, especially from Fulton to Index, and the down-river captains would leave notes for the up-river captains on the docks concerning the conditions.

From 1875 until around 1880, the Army maintained a weather station manned by the signal corps. This unit consisted of a sergeant, corporal and three privates. Dispatch riders, Teeter said, took reports to Fort Towson, Okla, and Fort Roots in Little Rock.

When the Corps Station was closed, the sergeant in charge, a man named Schmidt, retired here and opened a saloon on West Main Street.

After Western Union opened offices in most small towns, their operators sent daily weather reports by wire. In 1890, the Weather Service was formed as part of the Department of Agriculture, and in that year, Teeter said, a cooperative station was established in Prescott.

"We received our 100 year plague in 1990," he said. "So under the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce and now the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, we have had a station in Prescott for 108 years this October."

The normal amount of rain the area receives in May is 5.28 inches. The actual amount falling for the month was 5.65 inches, giving the area a surplus of 0.3 inches.

For the year, the area remains on the positive side for rain received as well. The normal amount, according to John Teeter, local meteorologist, is 23.81 inches, while a total of 26.74 inches fell during May. This gave Prescott 2.93 inches to the good.

Still, it only rained four days during the month. The largest single day total came late (on May 28), when 3.80 inches fell during a heavy storm.

In spite of the heavy rain on Thursday, May 28, Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown said the county wasn't hit bad. "It surprised me really," he said. "All around us, stuff was washed away. We had one road in the southern end of the county washed out. I didn't see any trees down. We were lucky."

Brown said the rain actually was beneficial as it helped pack down many of the county's roads, and cut the dust for a few days.

May was also below average for the number of weather watches and warnings the area usually receives. Teeter said the average is eight, while there were only three posted last month.

And, it was warmer, much warmer, than normal as well. The average temperature for the month, he said, was 80.7 degrees, a full 9.4 degrees above normal. The norm for May is 71.3 degrees.

The high temperature recorded during the month was a sweltering 93 degrees on May 31. The low, 50, was recorded early in the month, on the third.

A new record was set, Teeter said. There were five consecutive days when the mercury climbed to 90 degrees or higher. In addition, he said, the 91 degree temperature on May 13 was about three weeks early for 90 degree readings.

The overnight temperature of 71 degrees sets a new record for the early date for this high low as well.

According to Davis Benton, the weatherman from Cale, the south part of Nevada County received 4.78 inches of rain for the month, with 4.50 inches coming in a 10 hour period on May 28.

The highest temperature reading in Cale was 98, Sunday, May 31, he said.

Teeter said the most important record set last month was not a good one. There were 23 consecutive days when it did not rain in the area.