National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat and Fire Weather Concerns in the West; Excessive Rainfall Possible in the South-Central U.S.

Heat will build over the Intermountain West and the Southwest the next couple of days. Lightning from dry thunderstorms can create new fire starts and combined with gusty winds may cause a fire to rapidly grow in Oregon and northern California. Flash flooding will be possible in New Mexico and west Texas today, as well as parts of the southern and central Plains due to slow moving thunderstorms. Read More >

After a chilly April on average, the outdoor furnace commenced across the region during the month of May.  At the Dodge City airport, the average temperature for May was a record 72.2 degrees which is a whopping 8 degrees above normal and an astonishing 1.1 degrees above the previous record of 71.1 degrees set back in 1962!  Here is a graph showing the top warmest month of May.

 

What makes this even more incredible is that there were NO daily record temperatures established!  Plus, there were NO days of 100 degrees or hotter for the month!

For the spring months of March, April, and May the average temperature was 56.5 degrees at Dodge City and this is the 15th warmest on record.