Summary:
- May flip-flopped from unseasonably warm in the first ten days of the month, to average or cooler than average during mid-month, back to a relatively warm last ten days, ending overall warmer than average.
- Mid-month rains brought some welcome relief for dry conditions in northern California and the PNW with 110 to 250% of normal precipitation for the month of May. Southern California, the southwest, and the central Rockies experienced a dry month with generally less than 25% of average precipitation.
- May rains stalled, but did not stop, short to long term drought concerns which are forecast to remain in place or develop for much of the west.
- The short-term forecast is pointing to a warm (south) to seasonal (north) first week, then a cool down with rains in the PNW then a return to seasonal or warmer than average conditions after the middle of the month.
- The June through August seasonal forecast for the western US continues to point to the likelihood of warmer than average conditions into the heart of summer. The overall precipitation outlook continues the drier than average conditions for much of the PNW and northern California, and near average elsewhere in the west.
