MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for MAY. 2008 NAME: Charleswood CITY: Winnipeg STATE: MB ELEV: 235 m LAT: 49° 54' 00" N LONG: 97° 18' 00" W TEMPERATURE (°C), RAIN (mm), SNOW (cm), WIND SPEED (km/h) HEAT AVG MEAN DEG WIND DOM DAY TEMP HIGH TIME LOW TIME DAYS SNOW RAIN SPEED HIGH TIME DIR SOG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 8.1 13.4 2:30p 2.4 7:15a 10.3 0.0 0.0 9.7 45.1 6:15p NE 2 3.8 9.8 2:45p -2.5 6:15a 14.4 0.0 0.0 12.2 54.7 12:45p N 3 2.7 10.7 3:15p -4.7 6:15a 15.6 0.0 0.0 5.8 40.2 5:00p N 4 -0.4 4.4 7:30p -4.8 6:30a 18.8 3.2 0.0 1.3 22.5 7:30p N 5 5.4 15.4 5:00p -6.3 6:15a 12.9 0.0 0.0 1.3 25.7 2:30p N 6 11.2 16.9 2:30p 5.8 6:15a 7.2 0.0 0.0 2.7 27.4 2:30p NNE 7 6.8 10.6 2:00p 2.6 12:00m 11.4 0.0 0.0 8.2 41.8 10:30a N 8 5.2 13.2 3:30p -3.7 6:15a 13.1 0.0 0.0 3.7 32.2 5:15p N 9 3.7 8.4 3:45p -2.0 6:15a 14.6 0.0 0.0 6.0 29.0 3:15p N 10 4.6 10.2 4:15p 0.1 6:00a 13.8 0.0 0.0 5.0 33.8 5:45p N 11 7.8 17.3 4:00p -4.7 6:15a 10.5 0.0 0.0 1.3 22.5 4:15p ESE 12 7.2 10.1 12:15a 5.1 11:30p 11.1 0.0 16.3 3.9 33.8 5:30a E 13 8.7 14.9 5:15p 4.2 6:00a 9.6 0.0 5.6 6.6 32.2 7:45a N 14 11.9 21.3 3:45p 3.3 5:15a 6.7 0.0 0.0 4.5 41.8 6:15p SW 15 13.9 22.8 2:30p 4.3 6:00a 5.3 0.0 0.0 3.7 33.8 3:30p N 16 15.4 22.5 1:45p 7.3 4:00a 4.1 0.0 0.0 7.9 53.1 1:00p N 17 12.5 18.9 12:30p 6.8 12:00m 5.8 0.0 0.0 10.1 57.9 1:00p N 18 10.4 17.7 4:15p 0.8 6:00a 7.9 0.0 0.0 2.4 27.4 11:00a N 19 10.0 14.2 3:45p 6.2 12:00m 8.3 0.0 4.8 3.1 33.8 5:00p N 20 8.9 16.3 4:45p 1.3 6:15a 9.4 0.0 0.0 8.9 40.2 10:15a N 21 10.6 16.7 4:30p 2.7 5:00a 7.7 0.0 0.0 5.1 33.8 3:00p N 22 11.6 17.9 6:15p 4.1 6:15a 6.8 0.0 0.0 4.0 27.4 7:15p ENE 23 15.7 22.9 4:30p 7.3 6:00a 3.7 0.0 0.0 3.2 22.5 8:15a ENE 24 18.2 25.5 3:00p 9.7 6:00a 2.4 0.0 2.8 2.7 33.8 10:00p E 25 12.1 17.7 2:15p 4.6 12:00m 6.2 0.0 10.9 8.2 41.8 6:30p ENE 26 7.5 12.7 5:30p 3.8 3:30a 10.8 0.0 0.5 11.4 49.9 12:15a NNE 27 11.1 19.3 4:15p 0.1 6:00a 7.2 0.0 0.0 1.1 19.3 12:00p N 28 14.8 23.3 4:30p 4.1 5:45a 4.8 0.0 0.0 1.0 27.4 2:30p NW 29 15.5 23.7 4:00p 6.9 5:45a 3.9 0.0 1.0 1.9 27.4 3:00p W 30 14.8 20.2 6:00p 11.8 5:45a 3.8 0.0 1.8 1.6 19.3 1:00p N 31 15.3 21.6 2:15p 10.6 3:00a 3.5 0.0 2.0 1.4 22.5 4:45p N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.8 25.5 24 -6.3 5 271.3 3.2 45.7 4.8 57.9 17 N MAY 2008 HIGHLIGHTS.. ..Cool and dry.. Cool and dry conditions persisted through much of May over southern Manitoba, continuing the trend of April. Temperatures for the month averaged some 4 degrees below normal at Winnipeg airport (8.0C vs 12.0C normal), the coolest May since 2004 and the 11th coolest May in Winnipeg since records began in 1872. There were only 6 days that averaged above normal during the month, while 24 days were below. Temperatures warmed to a monthly high of only 25.5C on the 24th, one of only 8 twenty-degree days during the month. In addition, the month featured 16 days of frost at the airport (vs 7 days downtown and at my site), with the latest freeze of -3.2C on the 27th. This delayed the growing season by a good 1-2 weeks over most of southern MB, especially when compared to last year which saw minimal frost during May. May 2008 is now the fifth consecutive month below normal this year, with the 3 month period of March-May averaging only 0.9C in Winnipeg, some 2.5 degrees below normal and the coolest spring here since 2002. Precipitation wise, the month began with a surprise snowfall of 3 cm on the first Sunday of the month (the 4th), with generally below normal temperatures through the first two weeks of the month along with low humidities. A 22 mm rainfall on the 12-13th was the season's first significant rainfall, giving some much needed soil moisture that quickly helped grass and trees spring to life. This was followed by several days of 20 degree weather through midmonth, the nicest stretch of weather during the month. Additional minor rainfalls in the final two weeks boosted monthly rain totals to about 40 mm at Winnipeg airport (46 mm at my site), still a little below the normal May rainfall of 59 mm. Heavier amounts of rain (60-70 mm) fell over eastern Winnipeg thanks to a line of thunderstorms that dropped 15-25 mm of rain on the 31st. It was much drier over southwest MB where the dry conditions were becoming an increasing concern for farmers. Meanwhile very dry conditions in central and northern MB were increasing the forest fire threat with a few major fires burning by month's end. The month also featured the season's first two tornado events over southern MB, one south of Morris on the 25th and another near Niverville on the 31st. Both occurred over open fields and did little damage. Strong northwest winds on the 16th and 17th also produced extensive blowing and difting dust over the Red River valley, with ditches filled with blown topsoil just south of Winnipeg. All in all.. A slow start to spring over southern MB.