National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

• Home
• Site Map
• News
• Organization
• Search for: NWS All NOAA 

May 2006 Climatic Summary

The first two weeks of May were cool and mainly dry, except for a storm system that moved through the area from May 8 through May 11. The most significant precipitation with this storm fell in northeastern Wyoming and the Black Hills, with lighter amounts on the South Dakota plains. It was cold enough for 5 to 10 inches of snow in the Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains and 1 to 4 inches of snow across portions of the northeastern Wyoming Plains.

Warmer weather arrived on May 16 and continued through May 27. Isolated severe weather was reported in northeastern Wyoming on May 20 and May 22. The South Dakota plains saw a few severe thunderstorms on May 26. An upper level storm system dominated the weather from May 28 through May 31 bringing cooler than normal temperatures and scattered thunderstorms. A significant severe weather event struck the plains of South Dakota on the evening of May 29 with numerous reports of large hail and thunderstorm wind damage. Isolated severe weather was reported in northeastern Wyoming on May 30 and on the plains of South Dakota on May 31.

Temperatures averaged 1.5 to 3.0 degrees above normal in May. Wood was the only location to record below normal temperatures. Averages ranged from 6.3 degrees above normal at Camp Crook to 0.4 degrees below normal at Wood.

May was a very dry month across the plains of western South Dakota, with rainfall only 25 to 50 percent of normal. A few locations received less than 10 percent of the normal rainfall. Across northeastern Wyoming and the Black Hills near normal precipitation fell, with locations receiving 80 to 100 percent of normal rainfall. The Bear Lodge Mountains of northeastern Wyoming were the only area to receive above normal precipitation, with rainfall averaging 120 to 150 percent of normal. Precipitation ranged from 166 percent of normal at Upton in northeastern Wyoming to only 3 percent of normal at Wood and 7 percent of normal in Winner.

LOCAL EXTREMES

REGIONAL EXTREMES

MONTHLY RECORDS

Return to Climate Summaries