May Heated Microwave Fast

    Weather-wise, June has been an odd month so far, and May was unusual too, according to Richard G. Hendrickson, the United States Cooperative weather observer in Bridgehampton.

    “May warms up slowly some years, not this year though,” Mr. Hendrickson wrote in his monthly weather report for May. “Plant and flower growth were over one week ahead of average,” he said, and the lilacs “were faded long before Decoration Day.”

    The warmest day Mr. Hendrickson recorded last month was the 30th, when it was 81 degrees. It was in the 70s or higher for the last eight days of May, though there was frost on the morning of May 2, when the thermometer read only 30 degrees. Otherwise, the lowest temperature came on May 20, when it was 35.

    There was measurable rain on eight days, with the heaviest — 1.37 inches — coming on May 17 and 19. On May 18, Mr. Hendrickson recorded .65 inch. A midday rain on May 30 brought another .42 inch, and there was considerable fog on seven days, the weather observer said. The total rainfall for May was 4.34 inches. In May, Mr. Hendrickson recorded 5 clear days, 5 partly cloudy days, and 21 cloudy days.

    “Our wind direction for May was very varied until the last 10 days. That is when it settled down to the southwest, which is mainly our summer wind direction,” except during summer squalls, Mr. Hendrickson wrote.

    With that, he included words of caution: “We must all be alert and use care and common sense in the unpredictable summer showers, which often have thunder and severe lightning with them. These summer squalls can be nothing but a short puff of breeze with a few drops of rain, but they can also be severe with 60-mile-per-hour winds and over one to two inches of rain — all within a few minutes.”

    “Our landmass with water on each side is often the breeding ground area for a summer squall. The hot air from the ground plus the cooler air over our waters often develops into a summer squall of unexpected severity.”