May 2018 is set to go down in history as the warmest on record in Missouri, and perhaps the nation, according to University of Missouri Extension. Every day in May charted above normal in Missouri, Many days registered more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, with preliminary data indicating an average statewide May temperature of 73 degrees, almost 9 degrees above normal.
The 30-year mean temperature for June is 73 degrees. The 2018 temperatures break a record set in 1962. May’s average temperature this year beat the 1962 record by more than 1 degree. The five warmest Mays in Missouri were in 2018 (73.0 degrees), 1962 (71.9), 1896 (70.0), 1987 (69.8) and 2012 (69.5). National Weather Service records date back to 1895.
May’s historic heat follows the second-coldest April on record, Temperatures averaged more than 7 degrees below normal in April. Snow events and subfreezing temperatures were common across the state. The last such anomaly was from December 1989 (third coldest) to January 1990 (third warmest).
Not only was it hot, it was generally dry during May in Missouri, especially across the northern half of the state and a few southwestern counties. Preliminary data indicate a statewide May average precipitation of 4 inches, more than an inch below normal.