Mother Nature turned off the faucet in late May

Aug 11, 2023

by: Nathan Gidley

Posted: Jun 1, 2023 / 10:07 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 1, 2023 / 11:44 PM EDT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The month of May is in the books and both the first and second halves of the month could not have been more different in the precipitation department.

We started the month with some rainy days, but then Mother Nature turned off the faucet later in the month in Fort Wayne. No measurable rainfall was observed after May 19th and that dry spell continues now into June. We ended up around a half an inch below our monthly average total though, with 4.06 inches of precipitation having been recorded.

The majority of this rainfall occurred on two days earlier in the month. Both May 7th and May 12th saw record daily rainfalls for their respective dates. These two soaking rain events did help provide a buffer ahead of the very dry conditions that developed later in the month.

We even picked up a trace of snow on May 1st. There have only been three Mays in Fort Wayne's history where more than a trace of snow was recorded in the month, so this is notable.

We did enjoy some sunnier times compared to the previous months of the year. However, we still ended up with less than half of the possible sunshine we could have seen in May.

In the temperature department, we finished just below average, but not by much at all. Our highest temperature of the month was 90 degrees on May 30th. This is 15 days earlier than our average first 90 degree day of the year. Our coldest temperature was 35 degrees on the first day of the month, which was also the day when a trace of snow was picked up.

In a typical June, we start the month with high temperatures in the 70s and low temperatures in the 50s. We then end the month with high temperatures in the 80s and low temperatures in the 60s. June is our second wettest month on average, with 4.48 inches of rainfall.

This June though is starting well below average in the precipitation department. We’re also starting well above average temperature-wise. This drier and warmer pattern is the outlook for the month, according to the Climate Prediction Center.

We hope you enjoy the first month of Meteorological Summer! We’ll be hoping we can reverse the predominantly dry weather pattern we are currently seeing. For the latest forecast information, visit our WANE 15 Forecast Page.

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