Published: May 08, 2008 10:49 am         

Weather watch

By MARK HANOK

During the first week of May, temperatures averaged near normal. Temperatures averaged slightly below normal during the first four days, then above normal the next three days.

Thanks to all the recent severe weather in the Lone Star State, we’ll miss most of the rain on Friday, as low pressure slides to the south and brings a steady rain from the mid-Atlantic states to the lower Hudson Valley and southern New England. We’ll get mostly cloudy skies and occasional showers, with highs from 55 to 60 degrees. On Saturday, high pressure will build eastward from the Great Lakes, and skies will be mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60s.

As a storm system moves eastward from the Ohio Valley, sunshine will give way to increasing cloudiness on Sunday, but showers will hold off until late afternoon or more likely during the evening. Highs will be in the low 60s.

Rain is likely on Sunday night and Monday morning, then as the storm lifts northward to eastern Canada on Monday afternoon, a northwest flow of cool air will take over, with breaks of sunshine and highs from 55 to 60 degrees. Skies will be partly sunny on Tuesday, with highs in the lower 60s.

A major storm tracked slowly eastward from the southern plains on Thursday, and a very moist tropical flow ahead of the storm brought heavy thunderstorms and tornadoes across Oklahoma and Texas. Northwest of the storm, a classic early May blizzard amounted to over a foot of snow in eastern Montana and central Wyoming.

High pressure moving eastward from New England, and continued the pleasant weather in the Cooperstown area as a warm front approached from the west.

Skies were partly sunny with highs around 60 degrees. As the warm front moved across the region during the early evening, light rain developed across our region.

On Friday, the major storm lifted northward to Iowa, and numerous severe thunderstorms and tornadoes developed in the warm, humid, very unstable air south of the low. There were over 80 reported tornadoes from Thursday through Friday, mainly across Arkansas, Missouri, and western Tennessee. Warm air pushed eastward to western New York, where highs were around 70 degrees with partly sunny skies. At the same time, highs were in the low 50s with overcast skies and occasional drizzle in the lower Hudson Valley. Low clouds gave way to partial sunshine in Otsego County during the early afternoon, and were highs around 60 degrees. As a warm front moved through central New York during the early evening, showers moved into our area With variable cloudiness and a few intervals of sunshine in Otsego County, highs were in the low 60s. Heavy thunderstorms, associated with the cold front, fizzled out before reaching the Western Catskills and the Cooperstown area, and there were just a few showers during the evening.

The “reverse temperature anomaly” signaled a very dry weather pattern, and a return to beautiful May weather by Sunday afternoon and continuing through Wednesday. On Sunday, as a cold front moved well east of the New England coast and high pressure pushed eastward to Michigan, drier air returned to Otsego County. With a light northwest flow, skies were mostly cloudy in the morning, followed by clearing skies. By late afternoon skies were brilliantly sunny, with highs in the low 60s. Absolutely spectacular weather took over on Monday, as high pressure drifted right over New York State. With mostly sunny skies and light winds, highs were in the upper 60s, with relative humidity around 25 percent. It was certainly no coincidence that with all the spectacular spring weather in the Cooperstown area, heavy thunderstorms rolled across southeastern Texas, including torrential, record rainfall just north of Houston, Texas. A large upper-level trough over the southern Rockies provided cold air aloft, while pulling abundant moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico, and severe thunderstorms developed from northern Texas northward to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa on Tuesday.

It was just another stellar May day in the Western Catskills and the Cooperstown area, with partly to mostly sunny skies, light winds, and highs in the low 70s. During the early evening, a weak cold front crossed central New York, with only a few passing clouds.

As severe thunderstorms moved across north Texas, magnificent May weather continued in our area on Wednesday, with mostly sunny skies, dry air, and highs in the middle 70s. Mark Hanok is an Otegobased meteorologist. You can visit him on the World Wide Web at http://members. aol.com/weathergazette.