Moist May a milestone month in the USA

Fueled by colossal rainfall totals in the nation’s midsection, May was the wettest month ever recorded in U.S. history, the National Centers for Environmental Information said Monday.

Of the 1,445 months since U.S. weather records began in January 1895, May was the soggiest single month.

More than 20 states in the Plains and Midwest were wetter than average in May and were responsible for the record, even though most states along the East Coast were drier than normal.

Total precipitation in May for the contiguous U.S. was 4.36 inches, which is 1.45 inches above average, the information center said. This is an average of all the precipitation measurements across the country for the month.

The heavy rain in the southern Plains skewed the national precipitation ranking to such a degree that even the dry East and West coasts couldn’t lower the average, the report said.

“The majority of the precipitation fell in the southern Plains,” said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with the information center. “This shows how a regional event can affect national statistics.”

Both Texas and Oklahoma had their wettest months on record, ending the drought in each state but causing deadly flooding.

“The disaster of the floods ended the catastrophe of the drought,” Crouch said. The statewide average rainfall in Oklahoma in May was 14.06 inches, the information center reported.

Colorado had a record wet May, but not its wettest single month on record.

Meanwhile, seven states from the Southeast to New England had May rain totals far below average, but none set a record.

Crouch said the wet May stems in part from El Niño, the climate pattern that tends to bring rain across the nation’s southern tier.

He said there is no apparent trend to the top wettest months, as they’re scattered throughout the historical record. The secondwettest month was October 2009.