ABILENE, Texas (BigCountryHomepage.com) – It’s official: May 2022 finished as the hottest May on record in Abilene.
This data is according to measurements taken from Abilene Regional Airport.
Toasty temperature timeline
The first 100-degree day for the year was Friday, May 6. That day, temperatures climbed up to 102°. That started a two-week stretch of extremely hot temperatures.
From May 6 through 20, there were only three days that didn’t reach high temperatures in the triple digits. While not hitting the century mark- it was still hot, all three of those days hit a high of 99°. However, relief came on Saturday, May 21 in the form of a strong cold front.
Out of 31 days, we only saw six below-average, and 25 days at or above average. That is 80% of the month above average!
Not only were those days above average, many of them were record breaking.
For the record…
The average temperature was 81°. This number is calculated by accounting for the daytime highs and overnight low temperatures. This is what set our record for the warmest May, topping the previous record of 79.4° in May of 2000.
The average daily high temperature also set a new record, as well. It ended up topping out at 95.5°. This beat out the previous warmest average daily high temperature of 93.4° in 1998.
A total of ten daily high temperature records were broken last month. We also broke the record for most days in May with 100-degree temperatures. Out of 31 days, 14 of them saw highs in the triple digits.
Limited precipitation persists
Not only were we hot across the Big Country, but we were also dry. The month of May only saw 0.76 inches of rain measured at Abilene Regional. Normally, we expect 3.21 inches for the month, making this the ninth driest May on record.
Heading into June, we are in a deficit of 5.34 inches for the year.
While we can expect some relief for the start of June, caused by a cold front, the break will be brief. Triple digit temperatures are forecast to return by the weekend.
