May so far has been a hot and cold month, and quite wet. The last week saw daytime highs reaching into the mid-twenties, along with some above-average temperatures during the night. This enabled the average temperature for the month to rise almost two degrees to 14.7 degrees Celsius, which is almost half a degree above the average temperature for the entire month of May at 14.3 C.
That mini heatwave enabled farmers to get out into the fields en masse and get lots of planting done, but it will also be short-lived. The forecast for the coming week will see temperatures plunge down to the mid-teens for daytime highs and only reach seasonal levels in the last few days.
The corn heat unit count (CHU) is off to a tentative start given that very little corn was planted early in the month, and not much has emerged since. So far, 219 CHU have been recorded for 2025, starting on May 6, for those who managed to get seed in the ground before the rains came.
And, yes, there was lots of rain. There were 43 millimetres of rain in the first 10 days of the month, and then another 30 mm in the second full week, for a total of 73 mm. This is 90 per cent of a full month’s worth of precipitation and there is more forecast before May ends. Needless to say, there are puddles “partout” in the fields and the tile drains are running steadily. The impact of the sodden soil and cooler temperatures on seed germination remains to be seen.
The season has been slow to get going, with the leaves still unfurling in what seems like slow motion from day to day, and the cooler temperatures for the rest of the month won’t speed things up. So far for 2025, the average temperature is 0.5 C above normal, and precipitation (rain and melted snow) is now 12 per cent wetter than average.