Eighth Warmest on Record

By Russell Russ

May started out cooler and much drier than normal. Temperatures increased by the middle of the month, and by the latter part of the month they matched record highs. Warmer temperatures, brighter skies and greening trees meant that Norfolk was getting closer to summer. After last year’s very cool and wet Memorial Day, it was nice that the weather for this year’s holiday was spectacular for local parades and Norfolk’s annual road race.

May’s low temperature of 32 degrees was observed on May 1 and the high of 88 degrees on May 21. With an average monthly mean temperature of 58.2 degrees, it was 3.3 degrees above normal. This was Norfolk’s eighth warmest May in the last 91 years. There were no days with record cold temperatures but two days that tied record highs. The May 21 high tied the 1934 record, and the high of 87 on May 22 tied the record from 1988. Many other locations in the state also tied or surpassed records during this warm spell. Norfolk’s warmest May was in 2015 with a temperature of 61.8 degrees and the coldest was in 1967 with 46.8.   

The total precipitation recorded for the month was 3.84 inches, 0.50 inch below normal. There were five thunderstorms recorded, but only May 27-28 had a duration of moderate to heavy rainfall. Through May, the total precipitation for 2022 totaled 20.89 inches. Believe it or not, this was actually 0.28 inch above normal, 2.50 inches above last year’s total through May. Snowfall this year has been pitiful, but there has been beneficial precipitation. Norfolk’s wettest May was in 1984 with 12.34 inches; the driest was in 1980 with 1.31 inches. 

To put an exclamation point on Norfolk’s dreadful snowfall totals for the 2021-22 winter season, April recorded just a trace of snow and May no snowfall at all. For May, this was 0.4 inch below normal. Norfolk’s (and Connecticut’s) snowiest May on record by far was in 1977 when an amazing 20 inches was recorded. 

Norfolk’s winter season snowfall total for 2021-22 (October-May) totaled just 43.4 inches, 45.7 inches below normal. This winter ranked as Norfolk’s third least snowy since 1932-33. Did anyone predict that Norfolk would get so little snow this year? Probably not. 

An early look at June’s weather through most of the month showed that temperatures were cooler than normal. A low of 43 degrees on June 20 was just shy of the 1959 record of 41. Rainfall was running about average for June. With breezy conditions, daily highs in the 50s and 60s and nightly lows in the 40s, it sure did not feel like mid-June weather. The heat and humidity is going to come though, so enjoy the early fall-like weather while it is here. 

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2SW.