National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

 DURING THE 3-MONTH PERIOD OF MARCH...APRIL...AND MAY...THE AVERAGE
 TEMPERATURE AT MID CONTINENT AIRPORT WAS AN EVEN 60.0 DEGREES. THIS SETS AN
 ALL TIME RECORD FOR WARMEST SPRING SINCE CLIMATE RECORDS COMMENCED ON
 JULY 1ST 1888. THE PREVIOUS SPRING RECORD WAS 59.7 DEGREES SET IN
 1977. THE 60.0 DEGREE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 4.6 DEGREES ABOVE THE
 NORMAL OF 55.4 DEGREES FOR THIS 3-MONTH PERIOD.
 

 THE KEY PLAYER IN THIS RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE WAS APRIL...THE 3RD
 WARMEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 63.1 DEGREES
 ...7.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. IN APRIL...5 HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS
 WERE SET...4 OF WHICH OCCURRED IN A 5-DAY PERIOD FROM THE 13TH
 THROUGH THE 17TH. IN FACT...THROUGH THE 17TH...APRIL WAS ON A PACE TO
 BECOME THE WARMEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 65.3
 DEGREES.
 

 HOWEVER...THE FIRST OF TWO STRONG COLD FRONTS VENTURED SOUTHEAST INTO
 THE AREA ON THE 18TH...THEN ON THE EVENING OF THE 23RD...A 2ND COLD
 FRONT INVADED THE REGION AND WOULD PROVE FAR MORE POTENT THAN IT'S
 PREDECESSOR. AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PUMMELED THE AREA
 WITH HAIL AS LARGE AS BASEBALLS...AND SENT TEMPERATURES PLUNGING INTO
 THE LOWER 40S DURING THE NIGHT FROM THE 25TH THROUGH THE 27TH WHILE
 MOST AFTERNOON HIGHS STRUGGLED TO REACH THE LOWER 60S.
 

 THE FIRST HALF OF MAY WAS FAIRLY COOL...WITH HIGHS RANGING FROM THE
 MID 50S TO THE UPPER 70S WHILE MOST LOW TEMPERATURES VENTURED INTO
 THE 40S AND LOWER 50S. HOWEVER...MAY WOULD TURN UP THE HEAT...WITH
 HIGHS REACHING THE 80S AND 90S FROM THE 17TH THROUGH THE END OF THE
 MONTH AND LOWS IN THE 60S AND 70S FROM THE 20TH ONWARD. DURING THIS
 LATTER PERIOD...2 TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET. A RECORD HIGH OF 97
 DEGREES WAS SET ON THE 19TH...WITH A WARMEST LOW OF 75 DEGREES SET ON
 THE 28TH.