May is certainly a  month of warming across Wisconsin.  The average low temperature rises from around 40 at the start of the month to near 50 at the end.  The average high temperature climbs from the lower 60s at month’s start to the lower 70s at month’s end.  The hottest temperature on record in May for Wausau is 104 degrees set back on May 31st, 1934.   The coldest on record is 20 degrees from May 9th, 1947.  That’s a pretty impressive extreme range, 84 degrees.

The normal May precipitation for the Wausau area is 3.48″ with a normal snowfall of 0.20″.  One of the wettest Mays on record for our region was in 1942 when 10.74″ of moisture fell.  One of the driest was May of 1949 when just over 1.0″ fell.

May is a month of heavy gardening and the traditional start of the growing season around here.  We typically have our last frosts of the season around early to mid May in central Wisconsin and late May in northern Wisconsin.  We usually have a round or two of strong to severe thunderstorms in the state and every few years some snow comes our way as well in May.  I always look to May as the bridge between really shaky spring conditions where it can be quite cold, rainy, snowy, and windy to true summer with its day after day of heat and sunshine.  Hope you enjoy the rest of this interesting month.

Posted under Monthly Recap, Records, Seasonal Items, Spring