May 2022 Review

May 2022 is done. Was it a warm or cold? Rainy or dry? Let's find out.

May 2022 was pleasant enough, but it was actually a little below average.

The average High of 16.6°C ranked as 102nd warmest since 1881. That was our coldest May since 2014.

The average Low of 5.5°C was 48th warmest, and similar to 2019-2021.

 

 

High Temperatures

The Highs for May 2022 were mostly really close to the 30-year average. There weren't any particularly warm days, but there were a few cool days on the 8-10th, 19th and 29th. The count ends up with 13 Highs above-average and 18 below.

In May we average about 10 Highs of 20°C or more, and in 2022 we only had 6, which is the lowest since 2012. 

We also didn't reach 25°C. The only recent Mays without a 25°C day were 2022, 2021, 2011, 2009, 2005, 2000 & 1996.

 

 

Warm Days So Far

By the end of May we average around 12 days which reach 20°C. In 2022 so far we only have 7.

In recent years 2018 was really high with 27, while 2012 & 2007 had 6, 2000 had 4, and 1996 had 2.

 

 

Low Temperatures

May 2022's Lows look a lot like the Highs. Most of the month was really close to the 30-year average, but there were a few cool nights on the 10th and 21st. The count ends up with 14 Lows above-average and 17 below.

May averages 2~3 frosts, and in 2022 we had 2, on the 9th & 10th.

 

 

Frost-free Days

Blatchford's final frost on May 10th was a little later than its average of May 6th.

For the outlying stations it was May 21 at Stony Plain, May 22 at the airport, and May 22 and Campsie (although the airport and Campsie could get frost in June).

 

 

Warm & Cold Months

The cool Highs for May follow a cool April, and a warm January-March. We haven't had a really warm May since back in 2015-2018 when there was a 4-year streak of them.

 

 

Across Canada

Across the country May was another cool~ish month in the west, and warmer in the east. Winnipeg still can't catch a break, with a streak of below-average months going back to December.

For 2022 so far the average Highs in Winnipeg are -2.6°C cooler than their 20th century average. Vancouver is also at -0.4°C cooler, and Regina at -0.3°C. These other cities are on the positive side, with Halifax and St. John's having top-15 years.

 

 

Frost Dates Across Canada

This is a busy chart, but you can compare the frost dates for various Canadian cities (or filter out any that you don't want). Edmonton (ie. Blatchford) is in the weird spot of having 20~30 more frost-free days than the other prairie cities.

 

 

Precipitation

For total precipitation (rain+snow) April averages 50mm.

May 2022 was low across the region, with only 23.1mm at Blatchford, while Stony Plain had 31mm, and the airport had 32.7mm.

May averages 11 days with precipitation, and most of the stations were right around that. Blatchford was low though, with only 6 days.

As we head into the rainy summer months June & July both average ~15 days with rain.

By the end of May we average around 130mm of precipitation for the year.

Most of the stations are just a little below that: Blatchford is at 109.7mm, and the airport is at 123.1mm. St. Albert is the highest up at 148.1mm.

This messy chart has 2022's precipitation for 11 cities. The prairie cities (except Winnipeg) are all down around 100mm. At the upper end Montréal is over 400mm, Vancouver is over 500mm, Halifax is over 600mm, and St. John's is over 800mm.

For some outliers: Winnipeg's 339.1mm is its 2nd most on record, behind 362mm in 1896. St. John's 814.8mm is its 5th most. Calgary's 89.6mm is low, for maybe bottom-30~ish.

 

 

May Snow

This chart all of big cities which have recorded snowfall in May or June, going back to 2011.

For May 2022 there were only 3: Edmonton (0.6cm), Calgary (1cm over 2 days), and St. John's (0.2cm).

In May Edmonton averages ~5cm of snow (although May is snow-free half of the time), so 2022's 0.6cm is below average. 

Calgary averages ~9cm of snow in May, so 2022's 1cm was also low for them.

 

 

June Weather

For June usually about half of the Highs are above 20°C, with maybe a week above 25°C. But June 2021 also had the heat-dome. The last time that Blatchford had a June frost was 1942. But we've had snow in June in 2011, 1967, 1922 and 1888.

Our rainy season usually gets started in late-May, before really ramping up through June and July, and then quieting down again in mid-August.