Wet May Will Close Out on the Same Note with More Rain Showers

The month is not quite over yet, but May has already ranked as one of the rainiest Mays ever across much of the eastern and southern U.S. Here is a look back at this exceptionally soggy May.

May Showers Persist

It has been a challenging month to squeeze in outdoor activities across a large swath of the eastern and southern states thanks to a persistent stream of moisture. Several communities have notched their top-five wettest Mays in history. Some of these cities or towns have seen May of 2025 take over the top ranking. With more rain on the way to close out the month, these records are likely to become more entrenched in the history books.

Where has it been the wettest this month? Cities that have seen the soggiest May ever include Huntsville and Montgomery in Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Providence, Rhode Island; and Lebanon, New Hampshire. Meteorologists are predicting that this list may grow with more rain in the forecast for the Northwest and the southern tier of the country heading into the weekend.

A handful of locations in New England and the South have recorded more than double the historical average amount of rain in May. Montgomery typically picks up 3.88 inches of rain over the course of the month. The city in northern Alabama has already recorded 8.61 inches of rain, equating to 222% of the norm.

Montgomery has more rain in the forecast on Thursday and Friday. Thunderstorms will roam the region until at least late Friday with periods of heavy rainfall possible. Forecasters are also warning that some of the storms could usher in severe impacts. Highs will remain in the upper 70s and lows 80s due to the persistent cloud cover.

A drier start to June is in store for Montgomery with plentiful sunshine on the horizon for the weekend. This dry trend will continue into next week with the next chance of rain looming by the end of next week.

Most residents of the waterlogged regions are feeling the pain in the form of cancelled outdoor activities and disrupted travel. However, the losses are even more acute for the agricultural and construction sectors. For instance, farmers cannot get out and cut hay, harvest crops, and perform other tasks because of the relentless rain. Likewise, construction projects have been delayed time and time again due to the wrath of Mother Nature.

Wet May Follows on Heels of Dry March and April

The parade of storms has come as a surprise to areas that experienced dryness and drought conditions in March and April. The Northeast is one of the areas that followed up a dry end of the winter and start to the spring with repeated downpours in May.

Just as the southern tier of the country begins to dry out over the weekend, more rain will push into the Northeast. For example, New York City has the chance of rain and thunderstorms in the forecast through Saturday. Friday night is setting up to be the wettest stretch of this time period with up to an inch of rain predicted.

The Big Apple is expecting highs in the low 70s on Thursday to inch up to the mid 70s on Friday before falling back to the 70-degree mark on Saturday. Overnight lows will bottom out in the low 60s on Thursday and Friday in the metro area before slipping into the mid 50s on Saturday night.

Moving farther to the north, the moisture machine will fire up on Saturday in Boston. The forecast is calling for about a quarter of an inch of rain at this time. Temperatures will fall from the mid 70s for highs on Friday to only the mid 60s on Saturday, making for a chilly day to add to the moisture woes.

After already seeing a record for the wettest May, Providence will once again be the target of persistent rain showers on Saturday. Like Boston, this metro area is expecting rainfall of about a quarter of an inch. It will be a cool and breezy start to the weekend in Providence with highs that max out in the mid 60s and winds out of the south-southwest at 10 to 20 mph. The showers will stick around throughout the overnight hours in this part of southern New England as temperatures dip into the low 50s.

The moisture will be more significant this weekend in the interior portions of the Northeast. Albany, New York, is preparing for about a half of an inch on Saturday. You can expect a high of about 65 degrees, lows that fall into the upper 40s, and winds out of the northwest at 10 to 20 mph in the state capital. While the cloudy conditions will remain in place on Sunday, Albany will begin an extended drying period when the calendar flips to June.

The early June forecast for the Northeast and beyond will be updated in the coming days. Stay tuned for more detailed information so that you can make your outdoor plans.

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