Zero thunderstorm warnings issued in or around Philly during driest May on record

May was the driest month on record for multiple cities within the Philadelphia metro area. The region also didn’t have a single severe thunderstorm warning issued during the month, according to the National Weather Service.

Philadelphia, Wilmington, Reading, and Mount Pocono recorded rainfall between .09 and .75 inches for the month. NWS meteorologist Eric Hoeflich said the region was under a dry northwest flow for most of the month, leading to record low levels.

“That’s the main reason why we’ve had such a quiet May with no warnings, little to no precip, but the driest May on record for Philadelphia and the second driest for Allentown as far as well.”

No severe thunderstorms were issued in May, but 44 were issued the previous month.

“Anywhere from like 15 to 35 is the average,” Hoeflich said. “It seems like our record was in 2019 with 84. So you know, some days you could get a lot. And then 2020, for example, was just three. So there is quite the variance for May. Our more higher volume months are June and definitely in July.”

Ahead of last year’s heat wave in Philadelphia, precipitation levels fell below average. The weekly national drought monitor shows moderate drought conditions exist over 7% of the Mid-Atlantic region. Hoeflich says the summer isn’t expected to be as dry as last year.

“Hopefully, we get some rain in the coming months, coming weeks. We definitely can’t have another dry summer like we had last year, especially with the start we’re off to so far.”

Temperatures are predicted to be above average for the region from June to August. Last year ended up being one of Philadelphia’s warmest years on record.