Cold First Half of May 2020

Overview

Roughly the first half of May 2020 saw well below normal temperatures across central Indiana. Many days saw average temperatures more than 10 degrees below normal. May 9, 2020 saw record cold temperatures across much of Indiana as very cold air flowed into the area from Canada.

Temperature
Environment

Temperature

Much of the first half of may saw well below normal temperatures. Below is a plot of departure from normal for average temperature for May 1-12 (courtesy of the Midwest Regional Climate Center, click for a larger version):

Temperatures dipped into the 20s across central Indiana early on May 9, 2020. At Indianapolis, the low temperature of 27 degrees not only set a record low temperature for the date but also set the record for coldest temperature on record for the month of May. The previous record for the month of May was 28 degrees, set in 1966. A list of some central Indiana low temperatures is below. Below this is an image which shows low temperatures across the Midwest the morning of the 9th.

List of central Indiana climate sites' low temperatures for May 9 (from north to south):

Lafayette: 28 degrees
Muncie: 29 degrees
Indianapolis Eagle Creek: 30 degrees
Indianapolis: 27 degrees
Shelbyville: 31 degrees
Terre Haute: 30 degrees
Bloomington: 29 degrees

Image of low temperatures for the Midwest (courtesy of the Midwest Regional Climate Center):

low temp map

Environment

Persistent northwest flow in the upper atmosphere allowed cold air from Canada to flow into central Indiana.

Figure 1: 850mb Heights & Temperatures for 8:00 AM EDT May 9

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