NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY
MAY 2001
1st-4th…Heavy snow lingered over higher elevations in the Rockies Friday, while
thunderstorms pounded a large section of the Plains. Snow fell in parts of the Colorado and northern New Mexico mountains and also blanketed Utah and Wyoming where average snowfall amounts ranged from several inches to nearly a foot.
The storm system that brought snow in the Rockies produced rain, gusty winds and some lightning over a large area of the nation's midsection. Flash flood watches were in effect across parts of Oklahoma and Texas. Much of the east from lower New England through the Mid-Atlantic states was dry and partly cloudy. A cold front spawned some showers in the southern Great Lakes region. Showers ahead of the cold front also developed over central Illinois and southeastern Ohio and West Virginia. The Southeast was mainly dry except for South Florida where there were strong thunderstorms.
6th-12th…Thunderstorms rolled across the nation's heartland Friday while sunshine brightened most of the East and West. Storms lashed Missouri, with 1 1/2 inches of rain and hail reported in and around Joplin. Severe storms also hit parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. Lighter rain dampened the Ohio Valley and lower Great Lakes, with showers lingering in Wisconsin and Michigan. Partly to mostly cloudy skies covered the northern and central Plains and upper Mississippi Valley. Showers moistened the Dakotas while rain wound
down in Nebraska. Fair skies dominated the East, with isolated showers near Florida's Southeast coast and the Keys. Scattered showers also dampened the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Clear skies also prevailed in most of the West, with spotty clouds in the Rockies, northwestern Montana, Washington and along the California coast.
13th-19th…A line of storms pushed rain from Michigan to West Virginia on Wednesday, while spotty showers moistened the Pacific Northwest. Storms rolled across Indiana and Ohio, accompanied by heavy rain, lightning and gusty winds. More than an inch of rain fell in Muncie, IN, while hail up to an inch in diameter pelted parts of Ohio. Lighter showers and thunderstorms tracked across West Virginia through North Carolina. Clouds spread over western Washington and western Oregon, and light rain fell west of the Cascades.
A line of storms brought rain from the Rockies to the Ohio Valley on Thursday. Hail and heavy rain fell in parts of Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois and severe weather was possible early Friday in the southern Plains. Scattered showers fell over the Great Lakes region and into the Northeast.
A powerful line of storms dumped heavy rain from Oklahoma to the Ohio Valley on Friday, swamping roads and pushing streams out of their banks. More than 2 inches of rain fell in parts of West Virginia and wind gusts up to 54 mph were recorded in some areas, officials said. At least 40 homes and more than a dozen businesses reported flood damage and 20,000 customers lost power late Thursday.
Heavy rain also swamped roads in southern Ohio, with the village of South Webster reporting 2 inches in an hour late Thursday. Rain continued to fall Friday, spreading across the mid-Atlantic states and parts of the Northeast.
Farther west, storms struck parts of Oklahoma and Kansas and slipped into Missouri and Arkansas. Red Rock, OK, reported 5.4 inches of rain in a 24-hour period ending Friday.
20th-26th…Three storm systems pushed across the eastern United States on Monday, bringing heavy rain to the Great Lakes region, the Northeast and parts of the Mississippi Valley. High wind damaged buildings, vehicles and trees in Livingston and Oakland counties in eastern Michigan. No injuries were reported. Thunderstorms, rain, high wind and hail moved across the region, from Michigan and Ohio south to Louisiana and east through Alabama and Mississippi to the Carolinas.
Rains hit the Northeast and Southeast Tuesday, while cloudy skies darkened much of the country. Atlanta had gusty winds and hail, while heavy rains fell near the West Virginia-Virginia state line and over northern Georgia to southern Alabama. Heavy rain also fell in New York City. Rains fell from the upper Ohio Valley and along the Appalachians through the central Gulf States.
Clouds and thunderstorms lingered over the Southeast Wednesday as a storm system that dampened the region with heavy rain and high winds moved offshore. Small hail accompanied thunderstorms that soaked central and southern Florida. Rain also moistened the western and central Great Lakes, the Ohio and Tennessee Valley Appalachians, the Northeast, and New England. Clouds and isolated thunderstorms spread over much of the central and eastern Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and northern Illinois. Blustery winds were found throughout the northern and central Plains and upper Mississippi Valley, with gusts between 20 and 40 mph.
A front stretching from the Mid-Atlantic through the Gulf Coast to Texas brought rain and occasional thunderstorms from southwestern New England into the Carolinas on Saturday. Strong storms, with gusty winds and heavy lightning, rolled through central Virginia and eastern Maryland. Hail pelted Lisbon, NC and Williamsburg, VA. Another batch of thunderstorms rumbled through Texas, accompanied by heavy rain and gusty winds.
27th-31st…Showers and thunderstorms spread across the South on Monday, while another band of storms formed in the Northeast. A line of storms pushing eastward from Oklahoma and Texas brought rain to Louisiana, Florida and Alabama.
Severe thunderstorms and winds up to 85 mph uprooted trees, damaged buildings and left thousands without power in Oklahoma as storms moved through the state Sunday night into early Monday. Rain also spread over Tennessee, the northern Gulf States and the Carolinas. Severe storms, accompanied by strong winds and lightning, pushed through eastern North Carolina, uprooting trees in Fayetteville. A low pressure system in the Northeast brought scattered thunderstorms to New York and much of New England. A broad band of storms rumbled across the nation's midsection from the northern Plains to the Gulf Mexico on Wednesday. The storm system dumped rain on Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Flash flood warnings were in effect for several counties in eastern Oklahoma, where four to six inches of rain have fallen. The leading edge pushed across southern Illinois and into western Kentucky and western Tennessee as well. The northwestern boundary of the system produced moderate rain in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.