Early storms in May helped the state soak up the first above-average rainfall total for the first time in eight months. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says we didn’t go above normal by much. He says the first part of the month was extremely wet, but then it became extremely dry, ending up at four-point-six inches of rainfall, about a half-an-inch above normal. While swelled rivers and basements with water were common at the start of the month, Hillaker says everything’s had time to dry out. He says about all but a half inch of the total rain came in the first half of the month. The month was also colder than normal.He says temperatures average about two-and-a-half degrees below normal. Hillaker says the year thus far has been average in rainfall. He says the year started out unusually dry, but it evened out to be within an inch of normal. Hillaker says things so far have been warmer than normal. He says we had a mild January and the other months have been very near to normal.
