May Showers Brought June Flowers

Though the saying is off by a month from the usual April showers/May flowers, the cool conditions of April and late frost in May (where the mercury dipped to 27 on May 22nd in Broadus) set back plant growth as well as the validity of the saying in its orginal form.

In the ensuing weeks the growth has come on quickly. By the last week of May and into early June, flowers were in full bloom, lawns in need of regular cutting, and fields well on their way to producing a bumper crop, aided by regular rainstorms with warm and sunny conditions in between.

In Broadus the average temperature for May was within a degree of normal at 55.8 degrees, with the high for the month of 81 coming on May 16th. The low for the month was the previously mentioned 27, on the 22nd. That freeze date is towards the later end of normal, but certainly not out of the question. With records dating back to 1920, the mean final freeze date is May 17th in Broadus, but the latest freeze fell on June 25th, 1958.

Broadus received 2.39" officially in May, compared to 2.75" on an average year. The first 11 days of the month were dry, until a storm carrying 0.85" of moisture swept through the area on the 11th, followed by 0.42" recorded on the 12th.

From January 1 to May 31, Broadus received above normal precipitation, with 6.63" in total, compared to an average of 6.25" through that period.

The Biddle 8 miles SW station received 2.70" of moisture in May, with 1.13" falling on May 30th in a nice storm which came from a southerly direction, dropping moisture along the Little Powder as it went. The station also received a trace amount of snow on the 20th and 21st, when the mercury dipped to 29 and 25 degrees. The high for May at that station was 78, recorded on the 26th and 27th.

The Moorhead 9 miles NE station was a dry portion of the county, with 1.62" of moisture in May, compared to a normal of 2.59". They also received trace amounts of snow on the 20th and 21st, and recorded a low for the month of 25 on the 22nd. The high for May was 80, on the 26th, and the average temp for the month was 52.2, or 2.0 degrees below normal.

At the Bradshaw Creek RAWS station, located northwest of Moorhead at 3930 feet of elevation, 2.48" of moisture was recorded, with 1.25" falling on May 30th. The high for the month was 78 on the 26th, and the low was 29, on May 22nd. That station had a max wind gust of 47 mph, on May 19th, and had 24 days in May with at least a 20 mph wind.

The Sonnette 7 miles SW station received 1.99" of moisture in May, with 1.09" of that total recorded on May 29th. Their low for the month was 29 on the 22nd, and high for the month was 79, on the 16th.

The Fort Howes RAWS station received 2.34" of precipitation in May, with 0.88" falling on the 29th. The high for the month was 80 on the 27th, and the temp dipped as low as 27 on the 22nd. The wind at that station gusted as high as 44 on the 20th, and the station saw 27 days with wind gusts over 20 mph.

The Volborg station received 2.48" of moisture in May, with 1.42" of that total recorded on May 13th.

The Powderville 8 miles NNE station was the wet spot for official recordings in May, with 3.05" compared to a normal of 2.84". On May 12th, 1.01" of that total was recorded. The low for the month was 25 on the 22nd, and high for the month was 81, on the 27th.

So far in June the showers have continued, with 1.40" from June 1-6th recorded at the courthouse in Broadus, and 0.95" of that total falling on the 6th.