New Brunswick, N.J. (June 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the unusually cool May in New Jersey, including the first measurable May snow in the Garden State since 1977. While many people remark that New Jersey shifts right from winter to summer without a spring, this year’s meteorological spring seemed endless, according to Robinson.
Last month averaged 1.7 degrees below the 1981 to 2010 norm, making it the 40th coolest May since record-keeping began in 1895. Statewide precipitation averaged 2.5 inches (1.49 below normal), making it the 29th driest May on record.
“This is the first time there have been back-to-back below-average months for temperature since December 2017-January 2018,” said Robinson, New Jersey State Climatologist and a distinguished professor in the Department of Geography in the School of Arts and Sciences. “May 8 to 10 may have been the coldest May interval on record in New Jersey, especially May 9, which was as close to winter as the state has seen in May.”
On May 9, the first measurable May snow since May 9, 1977 fell in northern New Jersey’s higher elevations. The high temperature was 36 degrees and the low was 24 at High Point Monument, where 1 inch of snow fell (compared with up to 10 inches on May 9, 1977). The latest accumulating snowfall event in New Jersey was on May 10, 1954, when Oak Ridge Reservoir in Passaic County received 0.5 inches of snow. Flurries have been reported later in May in several other years.
The full Endless Spring: May and Spring 2020 Recaps report is on the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist and Rutgers NJ Weather Network websites.
Professor Robinson, who oversees the Rutgers NJ Weather Network and helps coordinate the New Jersey Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, is available to comment at [email protected]
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