Brutally Cold By May Standards
Since 1874 there have been only 15 days in the month of May where the high temperature did not break 50 degrees. The last time it happened was May 5th, 1978, where the high was 47 and the low was 44.As you can notice in the graphic on the right each of the fifteen days had a lot in common.
It rained on each of the fifteen days where the high did not reach 50.
There was a very small high and low differential during the course of the day. No low temperature on any of those days was below 40.
May 12th is the latest sub 50 degree high in Philadelphia history, back on 1882.Assuming we don't hit 50 before midnight, we will see the 16th occurrence of this and the first time since 1978 where we have not broken 50 in a given day in May.
Why is this happening? Blame the North Atlantic Oscillation, which is currently negative. The -NAO has pushed storm track farther south than usual for this time of the year, which has contributed to the chilly weather. If this were February and not May we would be looking at a several inch snowstorm in our region. As it is, we have a day that is neither fit for man nor beast.
Tags:
