NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

MAY 2026

3-9: Reno, NV, netted a daily record rainfall (0.25 inch) for May 4, followed the next day by record-setting totals in Wyoming locations such as Cheyenne (1.04 inches) and Laramie (0.70 inch). Cheyenne also received 8.9 inches of snow on May 5-6, while Denver, CO, netted 5.8 inches. Soon, showers and thunderstorms spread into the southern and eastern U.S. By May 6, daily-record totals included 2.30 inches in Montgomery, AL, and 1.30 inches in Caribou, ME. Drought-easing rain lingered in the southern Atlantic States through May 7, when daily record amounts reached 2.95 inches in Columbus, GA, and 1.47 inches in Norfolk, VA. At week’s end, another round of heavy rain spread across parts of the South. Record-setting rainfall totals for May 9 topped the 2-inch mark in New Iberia, LA (3.24 inches); Apalachicola, FL (2.93 inches); and Gulfport, MS (2.74 inches). Cold weather returned across much of the Alaskan mainland, except along the Arctic Coast, while mild conditions lingered in southeastern Alaska. Unsettled weather accompanied the chilly conditions, with Bettles receiving 2.6 inches of snow on May 9. Meanwhile, parts of southern Alaska received significant precipitation; Yakutat reported measurable rain during each of the first 10 days of May, totaling 5.41 inches. Farther south, Hawaiian showers were mostly limited to windward locations. On the Big Island, Hilo measured May 1-9 rainfall totaling 5.10 inches (229 percent of normal).

10-16: Rainfall in Tallahassee, FL, through May 16 climbed to 3.82 inches (279 percent of normal), and year-to-date precipitation rose to 10.73 inches (57 percent). Around the middle of the week, high winds raked portions of the Plains and the Northwest, as a powerful low-pressure system crossed the Canadian Prairies. In Montana, wind gusts on May 13 were clocked to 88 mph in Livingston, 75 mph in Dillon, and 74 mph in Havre. In neighboring states, winds reached 69 mph in Evanston, WY, and 67 mph in Burley, ID. The following day, another round of high winds swept across many of the same areas, raising dust from northern Montana and southern Alberta. Visibility was reduced to less than a mile in some locations, including Minot, ND, where a southwesterly wind gust to 62 mph was clocked. Glasgow, MT, measured a gust of 82 mph on the 14th, a record for May (previously, 69 mph on May 10, 2025). Glasgow’s only higher gust on record, 92 mph, occurred on October 4, 2024. Farther east, a slow-moving storm system over New England produced record-setting rainfall totals for May 14 in Portland, ME (1.98 inches), and Montpelier, VT (1.62 inches). Portland’s 3-day (May 13-15) rainfall reached 3.30 inches. At week’s end, on the evening of May 16, hail up to 3 inches in diameter pounded portions of the central Plains. Additionally, a thunderstorm-related wind gust of 82 was clocked on the 16th in Goodland, KS. Those storms flared shortly after the Meade Lake Fire flared across southwestern Kansas (on May 14); soon, that fire had scorched more than 90,000 acres of grass and brush, along with some timber. Along with the heat and humidity, parts of Florida received drought-easing rain. On May 12, daily-record totals in Florida included 2.32 inches in Apalachicola and 1.80 inches in Fort Pierce. Aided by a daily record sum of 1.55 inches (on May 12), the month-to-date.

17-23: Active weather dominated the central and eastern U.S., with weekly rainfall totaling 2 to 4 inches or more from the western and central Gulf Coast States into the Ohio Valley. Some of the highest amounts, at least 4 to 8 inches, fell from southern and coastal Texas to the central Gulf Coast. A separate area of heavy rain (mostly 2 to 4 inches) affected the east-central and southeastern Plains, extending into the southwestern Corn Belt. Locally severe thunderstorms accompanied the rain, especially early in the week, starting across the Plains and Midwest, but later shifting into the South. The stormy conditions slowed fieldwork but provided much-needed moisture in drought-affected areas. Late-season snow blanketed a few areas of the West, including parts of Wyoming and northern Colorado.

As the week began, late-season snow blanketed parts of the West. May 17-18 snowfall totaled 8.8 inches in Lander, WY, and 6.6 inches in Alta, UT, with most falling on the latter date. In Nevada, Elko achieved a daily record snowfall of 1.6 inches on May 17. Farther east, daily-record rainfall totals topped the 2-inch mark in locations such as St. Louis, MO (2.51 inches on May 18); Tupelo, MS (2.12 inches on May 20); and Victoria, TX (2.03 inches on May 20). Early-week thunderstorms also produced high winds across portions of the Plains and Midwest; on May 17, gusts reached 82 mph in Estherville, IA, and 68 mph in Lincoln, NE. On the 18th, gusts were clocked to 79 mph at Chicago’s Midway International Airport and 75 mph in Grand Rapids, MI. Weekly rainfall totals surpassing 4 inches were common across southern Indiana, eastern Oklahoma, and west-central Missouri; for example, Tulsa, OK, received 5.85 inches. Near the Texas Gulf Coast, weekly totals included 6.43 inches in Angleton, 4.99 inches in Alice, 4.40 inches in Rockport, 4.31 inches in Victoria, and 4.22 inches in Palacios. Farther east, Mobile, AL, was inundated with 5.78 inches of rain, a record for the date, on May 22. During the second half of the week, rain spread to other areas, including the northern Plains, where Dickinson, ND, tallied a daily record sum of 1.85 inches on May 21. In the East, record-setting totals for May 22 included 1.76 inches in Wheeling, WV; 1.67 inches in Tuscaloosa, AL; and 1.41 inches in Zanesville, OH. The week ended on May 23 with daily-record totals of 2 inches in Leesburg, FL (2.95 inches), and Florence, SC (2.46 inches). Selected daily-record precipitation totals included 1.12 inches (on May 17) in Juneau; 1.10 inches (on May 20) in Sitka; 0.51 inch (on May 21) in King Salmon; and 0.44 inch (on May 18) in Bethel. Meanwhile, Fairbanks reported its fifth freeze of the month with a low of 32°F on May 22. Farther south, parts of Hawaii—especially windward locations—experienced unseasonably heavy rain. On the Big Island, Hilo’s month-to-date rainfall through the 23rd climbed to 13.87 inches (258 percent of normal), aided by amounts greater than an inch on May 3, 15, 17, 18, and 20. At the state’s other major airport observation sites, May 1-23 rainfall ranged from 0.44 inch (71 percent of normal) in Kahului, Maui, to 7.09 inches (405 percent) in Lihue, Kauai.

24-30: Active weather prevailed nearly nationwide, with the largest area of heavy rain affecting the Southeast.

Stormy weather extended to the Plains and lower Midwest, where thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds. However, rain across the central and southern Plains arrived too late to aid drought- and freeze-damaged winter wheat. Elsewhere, a slow-moving storm system delivered unseasonably heavy precipitation from northern and central California to northern sections of the Rockies and High Plains. However, precipitation bypassed a few areas, including much of the Southwest and the upper Mississippi Valley, as well as portions of the Great Lakes region.

Locally heavy showers peppered the central and eastern U.S. May 24 featured daily-record totals in Sioux Falls, SD (1.69 inches); Beckley, WV (1.60 inches); and Chattanooga, TN (1.40 inches). On Memorial Day, May 25, Eastern daily-record amounts reached 1.54 inches in Athens, GA, and 1.26 inches in Bangor, ME. Elsewhere in Maine, Caribou received rainfall totaling 1.87 inches on May 25-26, aided by a daily-record sum of 1.25 inches on the latter date. During the mid- to late-week period, Eastern showers shifted southward. Monroe, LA, collected a record-setting total (2.63 inches) for May 28. Weekly rainfall topped 4 inches in numerous Southern locations, including Pascagoula, MS (6.76 inches), and Athens, GA (5.91 inches). May rainfall broadly exceeded a foot along and near the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida’s panhandle, with totals reaching 17.99 inches in Mobile, AL, and 14.49 inches in Gulfport, MS. During the mid- to late-week period, significant Northwestern precipitation led to record-setting rainfall totals for May 28 in Klamath Falls, OR (1.15 inches), and Wenatchee, WA (0.75 inches). Downtown San Francisco, CA, also netted a record-setting sum (0.60 inch) for May 28. On the same date, thunderstorm-related wind gusts were clocked to 65 mph at Dallesport, WA, and 58 mph in Burns, OR. By May 30, showers continued in the Northwest and returned across the nation’s midsection, leading to daily-record amounts in East Rapid City, SD (1.83 inches); Livingston, MT (1.73 inches); Idaho Falls, ID (1.46 inches); and St. Joseph, MO (1.54 inches). Chilly weather, accompanied by widespread precipitation, affected much of Alaska.

May precipitation was greater than 150 percent of normal in Fairbanks (1.16 inches), Bettles (1.47 inches), Anchorage (1.61 inches), McGrath (2.00 inches), Juneau (5.34 inches), Sitka (6.16 inches), and Yakutat (12.19 inches). Farther south, the Hawaiian highlight for May was heavy showers in windward locations, especially around the middle of the month. Monthly rainfall in Lihue, Kauai, totaled 7.33 inches (336 percent of normal), with 4.54 inches falling on May 15. On the Big Island, Hilo’s monthly rainfall of 18.18 inches (260 percent of normal) was boosted by totals greater than an inch on May 3, 15, 17, 18, 20, and 31.

Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com