Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rainfall Is Down From Last Month

May was a much drier month than was April.

In fact, according to Prescott meteorologist John Teeter, rainfall in May was below normal. Usually, 5.28 inches of rain falls during May, but only 3.65 inches fell last month. This resulted in a shortfall of 1.63 inches.

Cale meteorologist Davis Benton said his area of the county only saw 2.46 inches of rain for May, or about half the normal amount for the month.

Teeter said it rained 11 days during the month in Prescott, while Benton said Cale received rain 10 days during May.

According to Teeter, the largest single day total of rainfall was 1.10 inches, on May 9. In addition, he said, there were only four watches or warnings posted for the month, which is two less than the normal of six.

The year-to-date rainfall, according to Teeter, is 30.02 inches for this time of year. However, the normal amount for the first five months is 23.81 inches. This results in an overage of 6.21 inches.

Benton said the total rainfall for the year so far in the Cale region has been 29.23 inches.

Turning to the temperatures, Teeter said the average for the month was 66.7 degrees, 4.6 degrees less than the average for May of 71.3.

He said there were no monthly records set, but single-day records were set on several occasions. The high of 71 on May 16 was the lowest high recorded for this day, while 41 degrees on May 13, and 42 on May 14 were record lows for those days.

In Cale, the lowest temperature recorded in May was 41 degrees.

Teeter said the highest temperature recorded during May was 81 on the 18th.

Though May was a dry month, Teeter said, conditions in the area are still wet due to the above normal rainfall for the first four months of the year. In addition, the high humidity of late has not allowed much drying to take place.

Turning to June, Teeter said the normal amount of rain is 5.28 inches, with the average temperature being 78.1 degrees.

"Some of our worst storms have occurred in June," Teeter said, "so pay attention to all the watches and warnings announced.

"Thank goodness bad weather doesn't happen every time a watch is put out, but believe me, the potential is always there for storms during these watches and especially warnings. It is plain stupid to not observe conditions and take precautions."