Highlights

Nome reported a mean monthly temperature in May of 33.1°F, considerably below the normal of 36.8°F. This might have been caused by the substantial amount of sea ice in the Bering Sea, which went out later than normal. The warmest monthly temperature was 63°F, observed on the 18thof May. This represents a new daily record, surpassing the old record of 62°F set in 1980. The coldest temperature occurred on the 4thwith 5°F.
Precipitation totaled 0.88", very close to the normal value for May of 0.86". However the fact that nearly all the precipitation (0.84") occurred on one day, the 16thMay was remarkable. This set a new record high for this specific day, by surpassing the old record of 0.40" set in 1990 by more than the factor of two. Furthermore, it represents the highest amount of rain ever observed on any one day in May in Nome, where the record stretches back to 1907. The old time previous daily May record had been set on 28 May 1996 at 0.76". The average wind speed for the month was light with 5.8 mph, and the highest gust observed was 28 mph on the 16th, blowing from a southeasterly direction.