After Snow and Tornadoes in April, What’s in Store for May in Minnesota

UNDATED (WJON News) -- Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay says April was an unusually active month, featuring everything from heavy rain in the southeast to more than a foot of snow in the northwest. He says April also brought nine tornadoes statewide and above-normal moisture. The severe weather season began April 13th, with multiple tornado outbreaks, including several stronger EF-2 twisters in southern Minnesota.

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The Climate Prediction Center has released its updated outlook for May.

As for temperatures, they are predicting average temperatures for much of Minnesota, with cooler-than-normal conditions in the northeastern part of the state.

The average high temperature in St. Cloud at the beginning of May is about 61 degrees, and by the end of the month, the average high is about 74 degrees.

The Weather Channel forecast has us well below normal for the first few days of May.

As for precipitation, the Climate Prediction Center is anticipating a drier-than-normal May.  St. Cloud typically averages about 3 1/2 inches of rain in May.

There's a small chance of rain showers in the forecast for parts of the area north of I-94 for Monday afternoon-evening.

St. Cloud recorded 3.17 inches of rain in April, which is 0.66 inches above normal.  We also had 3.3 inches of snow in April, which is 1.3 inches below normal.

The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday shows 35 percent of the state is abnormally dry, and nine percent is in a moderate drought.