Cloudy and rainy. Cloudy and rainy.
That was the weather pattern that dominated the month of May in New Jersey, which turned out to be the state’s fifth wettest May in 130 years of record keeping.
Although some segments of New Jersey got drenched a bit more than others, the statewide average rainfall total last month turned out to be 7.27 inches, according to data from the office of New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers University.
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That is 3.75 inches above normal for May, and means the Garden State was saturated with nearly twice as much rain as it usually gets during the fifth month of the year.
Since 1895, the only other Mays in which New Jersey got more rain were in 1989, 1948, 1984 and 1990.
Last month turned out to be the fifth wettest May on record in New Jersey, with stats going all the way back to 1895.Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
More gloomy rain stats
- The Newark area had either measurable rain or drizzle that was considered a “trace” of rain on 21 of the 31 days last month. Even on the rare days with no rain, all of them were either cloudy or partly cloudy, according to data from the National Weather Service.
- The Trenton area had either measurable rain or a trace of rain on 22 of the 31 days in May. Twelve days were cloudy, 10 days were partly cloudy and only nine days were clear.
- The Atlantic City area fared better than areas farther north, with some wet weather on 17 of the 31 days in May. The Atlantic City area had 13 clear days, 12 partly cloudy days and only six cloudy days.
After yet another string of cloudy, rainy days, New Jersey finally has two clear days on tap — Wednesday and Thursday.
However, forecasters are predicting another wet weather pattern to return, with possible showers late Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when Father’s Day will be celebrated.
The weather service is blaming the lousy forecast on a frontal system that’s expected to stall over the New Jersey region on Friday, then move slightly south during the weekend.
“Several waves of low pressure will ride along the front, yielding several periods of showers and isolated thunderstorms over the weekend,” the weather service’s New Jersey forecast office said.
Forecasters are “not anticipating a washout by any means,” the weather service noted. “However, there will be limited to little sunshine over the weekend.”
The same weather pattern could extend the rain chances into next Monday and Tuesday.
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Stories by Len Melisurgo
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.