Syzdekistan

From the National Weather Service:

(since the NWS has a stuck caps lock key and the text is hideous, the weather weirdness is below the fold):RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
253 AM PDT MON JUN 1 2009

…A WARM…WINDLESS AND IN SOME CASES DRY MAY COMES TO AN END
ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN…

…MAY WARMTH…

MAY 2009 WILL GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE WARMEST MAY ON RECORD
AT LAS VEGAS AND NEEDLES AND TIES FOR THE WARMEST MAY ON RECORD AT
BISHOP.

BELOW IS A LIST OF THE TOP 5 WARMEST MAYS ON RECORD FOR SEVERAL
LOCATIONS ACROSS THE AREA.

RANK LAS VEGAS BISHOP BARSTOW NEEDLES
——————————————————————–
1. 83.6/2009 68.6/1994 & 2009 81.0/2001 88.1/2009
2. 82.2/2001 68.4/2001 80.8/1997 87.5/1997
3. 81.6/1997 66.9/1954 80.6/2009 87.2/2006
4. 81.0/2006 66.7/1966 80.0/1984 87.1/2000 & 2001
5. 80.8/2000 66.6/1992 79.0/2000 86.1/1984

ALL TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR LAS VEGAS DATE BACK TO 1937 AND FOR
BISHOP…BARSTOW-DAGGETT AND NEEDLES TO 1948.

THE PERSISTENT WARM WEATHER DURING MAY 2009 CAN BE LARGELY
ATTRIBUTED TO THE LACK OF ANY STRONG TROUGHS PASSING THROUGH THE
AREA. STRONG TROUGHS PASSING THROUGH THE AREA TYPICALLY BRING IN AN
INFLUX OF COLDER AIR AFTER THEY HAVE MOVED THROUGH. AS A
RESULT…MOST OF THE DAY TO DAY TEMPERATURE CHANGES EXPERIENCED
ACROSS THE AREA WERE MORE SUBTLE IN NATURE AND FREQUENTLY ATTRIBUTED
TO CLOUD COVER ESPECIALLY IN THE LATER HALF OF THE MONTH.

BOTH HIGH TEMPERATURES AND LOW TEMPERATURES WERE WELL ABOVE NORMAL
DURING MAY 2009 WHICH ALSO SET A NUMBER OF RECORDS.

IN LAS VEGAS…THERE WERE 28 DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90
DEGREES OR HIGHER IN MAY 2009. THIS TIES THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR THE
NUMBER OF DAYS TEMPERATURES HAVE REACHED 90 DEGREES OR ABOVE FOR MAY
WHICH WAS 28 DAYS SET IN MAY OF 1940.

MAY 2009 WAS ALSO THE SECOND TIME ON RECORD THAT THE TEMPERATURE
DID NOT DROP BELOW 60 DEGREES IN LAS VEGAS DURING THE MONTH OF
MAY…THE ONLY OTHER TIME WAS MAY 1992. MAY 2009 WAS THE ONLY MAY ON
RECORD IN LAS VEGAS THAT THE TEMPERATURE HAS EVER REMAINED AT OR
ABOVE 65 DEGREES. WITH THESE STATISTICS IT IS NO SURPRISE THE
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE DURING MAY 2009 WAS 72.1 DEGREES IN LAS
VEGAS…THE WARMEST AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE EVER ON RECORD FOR MAY.
THIS FAR SURPASSED THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 69.6 DEGREES IN 2001.

IN BISHOP…THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE IN MAY 2009 WAS 49.4 DEGREES
WHICH IS ALSO THE WARMEST EVER ON RECORD FOR MAY. THE PREVIOUS
RECORD WAS 48.1 DEGREES SET IN 2001.

AND IN NEEDLES…THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE DURING MAY 2009 WAS
74.4 DEGREES WHICH IS ALSO THE WARMEST EVER FOR MAY HERE. THE
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 73.8 DEGREES SET IN 1997. NEEDLES ALSO SAW THE
GREATEST NUMBER OF DAYS WITH A TRIPLE DIGIT HIGH TEMPERATURE IN MAY
WITH THE MERCURY REACHING THIS MARK 23 TIMES IN MAY 2009. THE
PREVIOUS RECORD FOR THE MOST TRIPLE DIGIT HIGHS EVER IN MAY AT
NEEDLES WAS 22 SET IN 2001.

…LACK OF WIND IN LAS VEGAS…

MAY IS TYPICALLY THE WINDIEST MONTH OF THE YEAR IN LAS VEGAS WITH
AVERAGE WIND SPEED OF 11.2 MPH. THE LACK OF STRONG UPPER TROUGHS
PASSING THROUGH THE AREA THIS PAST MAY RESULTED IN LESS WIND THAN IS
TYPICALLY EXPERIENCED IN THE MOJAVE DESERT THIS TIME OF YEAR. IN LAS
VEGAS MAY 2009 WILL GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE LEAST WINDY MAY
EVER ON RECORD SINCE WIND RECORD STARTED IN 1949 WITH AN AVERAGE
WIND SPEED OF 7.1 MPH. THE 5 LEAST WINDY MAYS ON RECORD IN LAS VEGAS
BASED ON AVERAGE WIND SPEED ARE…

1. 7.1 MPH / 2009
2. 7.8 MPH / 2006
3. 8.1 MPH / 2003
4. 8.2 MPH / 1952 AND 2002
5. 8.3 MPH / 2007

…LAS VEGAS TIES FOR THE DRIEST MAY ON RECORD…

IN LAS VEGAS…MAY 2009 WILL ALSO TIE AS THE DRIEST MAY ON RECORD
WITH NO PRECIPITATION BEING OBSERVED ALL MONTH AT MCCARRAN
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…THE OFFICIAL CLIMATE STATION FOR LAS VEGAS.
6 OTHER MAYS HAVE NOT HAD ANY PRECIPITATION IN LAS VEGAS SINCE
RECORD STARTED IN 1937. THESE ARE 1948…1954…1970…1984…2002
AND 2004. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT WHILE OUR OFFICIAL CLIMATE STATION
DID NOT RECEIVE ANY PRECIPITATION THIS PAST MONTH SEVERAL AREAS IN
THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY DID GET LIGHT SHOWERS OR SPRINKLES ON A FEW
DAYS THIS MONTH…INCLUDING NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE…MOUNTAINS
EDGE…HENDERSON…AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE ON DEAN
MARTIN DRIVE. THE HIT AND MISS NATURE OF SHOWERS WHEN THEY WERE
AROUND THIS MONTH WAS THE RESULT FOR THE WIDE VARIATION IN
PRECIPITATION IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY.