May 2022 has been anything but a normal spring month. The entire month was dominated by above average rain and below average temperatures.
The Western Region Climate Center (WRCC) graphic below shows the percent of average rain across Western Washington in May.
Most of Western Washington received 130-300% of normal rainfall. Specifically, the entirety of the lowlands received at least 130% of average.
How much rain actually fell around the area? Take a look at these maps below.
Normal precipitation for May in the Seattle area is around 1.9 inches…so this month was around 1.5-3.5 inches above normal in the lowlands and up to 5 inches above normal in the foothills! Some locations high up in the Olympics and Cascades even received over a foot of rain!
In addition to being wetter than normal, this May was much colder than normal. The WRCC graph below shows the temperature departure from average across the state in May.
The entire state had temperatures below normal, with the majority of the state being 2-6 degrees below normal.
The temperature departure from normal is even more striking when looking only at daily high temperatures, as seen below.
High temperatures in May were 4-8 degrees below normal across most of Washington State, including being at least 6 degrees below normal in nearly all of Eastern Washington. Some locations in the mountains were even 8-10 degrees colder than average!
The biggest impact of this May’s abnormally wet & cold conditions will be the snowpack. The USDA map below shows snowpack percent of average on May 30th.
Wow! All snowpack in Washington State is 140-430% of normal! This is very good news for the upcoming dry season. Any water supply worries are gone, and the wildfire season’s start will likely be delayed thanks to this excess snowpack.
So…while May was wetter, colder, and snowier than normal…it will likely have a positive impact on conditions this summer.
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