Edmontonians prayed for it for months – and then it just wouldn’t quit. Picking up over 100 millimetres of rain since May 19th, Edmonton has seen more than twice the monthly average in just 12 days.
It’s been a drastic change for the Capital Region. For the first four months of 2016, Edmonton saw just 41.1 millimetres of precipitation, that’s about 52 per cent of the long-term normal. The rainy end-of-May weather has turned the rainfall deficit into a surplus, as Edmonton now has seen 14 per cent more rain than normal for the calendar year.
“No surprise to see precipitation ramp up. For central Alberta’s climate regime, our wettest months are May, June, July and August,” Global Edmonton meteorologist Jesse Beyer said.
From extremely dry to extremely wet, May 2016 is now the fourth wettest May since records started here in 1881, according to Environment Canada’s Blatchford station.
4th – May 2016 had 105.9mm
3rd – May 1939 had 138.2mm
2nd – May 1977 also had 138.3mm
1st – May 1902 had 198.9mm
“Now that sea surface temps are starting to cool in the south pacific, it looks like we’re headed into La Nina. If this trend continues to strengthen, the cool and wet conditions may continue, even strengthen through fall and winter,” Beyer said.
Typically in May, Edmonton experiences an average of about 2.5 days with rainfall of over five mm. This month, there were seven such days.
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