No Record Low Temperature, but close

Columbus was close to Record Low Territory Thursday Morning, with a low of 48°F at the Columbus airport, recorded at 6:51 AM EDT. The highest record low in May for Columbus Georgia was 43°F set on 5/5/1973, 5/28/1961, 5/3/1961, 5/14/1960. There was one record set today. Athens Georgia set a new record low of 37°F this morning.

The Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network [ AEMN ] at Callaway Gardens recorded a low of 40.6°F at 6:30 AM EDT. It's a shame funding for this and other automated stations around Georgia has been cut. AEMN is scheduled to be shutdown in late Summer 2011 due to a shortfall in funding.

Generally, for lack of a more reliable measure, I split the temps from these 2 reporting stations above, and have a good idea what the temperature was here in Cataula. That being said, it was around 44°F out here, a little cooler in low lying spots such as my exact location. The two outdoor thermometers on the land had readings of 41 and 43 respectively.

On another note:

The rain that passed through the area Tuesday night did just that. I recorded little more than a trace in the gauge. I suspect before long I'll begin doing Drought reports again. The last was on November 14, 2010, and since then things looked pretty good. But as a local meteorologist points out, "we are running over 4 inches below average for this point in the year". Expect localized drought conditions to worsen as we move into the summer months, save something from the tropics as mentioned in other posts.

Record Low Territory Thursday Morning

One can already feel a nip in the air at this hour, Tuesday night. Some will say it feels like fall. I'll say it feels like early spring. Either way it will be quite cool the next couple of mornings. I've even heard the 'F' word used. Whaaaat ? The 'F' word ? Yep. The 'F' word ... Frost.

As of this writing, little if any rain has fallen once again in the black hole where I live. I did hear a couple sprinkles on the fireplace cap. I stepped outside and the truck has a couple drops on it. Thats when I felt the nip in the air.

With the temperatures falling, we are heading in the direction of possibly setting a record low Thursday morning.

Here are the previous records set in Columbus :

COLUMBUS METRO AP (092166)
Extremes
Lowest Daily Minimum Temperature (degrees F)
Days: 5/1 - 5/31
Length of period: 1 day
Years: 1948-2011

Rank  Value  Ending Date
  1      39  5/2/1963
  2      40  5/4/1971, 5/8/1958
  4      41  5/13/1960
  5      42  5/9/1960, 5/17/1956
  7      43  5/5/1973, 5/28/1961, 5/3/1961, 5/14/1960

Will we set a record ? With all the extremes the past few years, I think we will. I have no doubt here in Cataula we will. I'll be looking for the frost. Don't forget to cover your vegetables, flowers, or other plants.

Heres the graph for Thursday morning :