May was a good month for much-needed rain
June 1 is the first day of Meteorological Summer. The first week of the month will feel more like the start of July. -- Rich Segal
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It looked like May would end up with a rain deficit as very little had been measured in the second half of the month. That was until Friday, May 31. A heavy downpour between 5 and 7 a.m. Friday measured out to 1.46" leading to May being wetter than normal. The final total for the month was 6.20", easily topping the normal of 5.04". There were two days where 1.47" was measured at Camp Mabry.
May ended up wetter than normal for nearly the entire area. This was excellent news for the Highland Lakes. Drenching rains at the Colorado River near San Saba led to a marked increase in the water level at Lake Buchanan. Between May 1 and June 1, the level at Buchanan rose by 13 feet.
The rise at Lake Travis was less than Buchanan because not enough rain fell at the Pedernales River gauges at Fredericksburg and Johnson City. That was until Friday when the gauge at Johnson City measured 2.48". This created an increase in the water level at Travis to climb more than .50" and climbing from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning.
Inflows from the four waterways that feed Buchanan and Travis added more than 80 million gallons of precious water since the start of May. That is certainly a reason to rejoice.
The month started with five days of below-normal highs. It ended with 13 out of the last 14 days above the average. The hottest time of the month, the one that gave an early taste of summer, was Memorial holiday weekend with two afternoons peaking at 99°.
The average high for the month was 88.8°, with 20 of the 31 days above normal. Ten days were below normal, and one day was at normal. The average low was 71.1°.
June 1 marks the first day of Meteorological Summer. (Astronomical Summer starts on June 20 at 3:50 p.m.) June is forecast by the Climate Prediction Center to be, yes, warmer than normal, with normal being 83°. Highs start the month with an average of 91°, warming to 95° by the 30th. Last year, June's average temperature was 95°, two degrees above normal, and included five days of triple-digit heat.
Lows range from 71° the first four days, then climb to 74° by month's end.
June is also the third wettest month of the year with an average rain of 3.68". This season's June rain forecast is slightly above normal. As we transition out of the current El Niño and into La Niña, it gives us pause to believe this forecast may not be verified. But, we can hope.
Last June's rain was 1.16". The previous year yielded 1.18", 1.16" of which fell in one day, the 27th.
Hopefully, the odds will change and this wetter-than-normal forecast will verify.