4 days ago
May 2025 was one of wettest on record in Mass. And yet, Cape Cod is still in a drought.
Drenched.
That's how everyone probably felt last month.
And that would make sense, because it was one of the wettest months of May in Massachusetts history.
According to the National Weather Service, the wettest May in Boston was in 1954 with 13.38 inches, and the wettest May in Worcester was in 1984, when 9.94 inches of rain fell on the city.
Overall, last month was considered to be top-five of all time in the Bay State regarding rainfall.
Where did it fall on that list?
Meteorologist Francis Tarasiewicz of the National Weather Service branch in Norton, MA said 7.25 inches of rain fell on average in the state during the month of May.
He added that amount makes last month the fifth wettest May in Massachusetts history.
He stressed that different parts of the state saw different amounts of precipitation in May.
"It was an extremely wet month, that's for sure," Tarasiewicz said.
The following totals are from the website.
2024: 4.82 inches
2023: 2.25 inches
2022: 1.32 inches
2021: 4.92 inches
2020: 2.21 inches
2019: 3.35 inches
2018: 1.90 inches
2017: 3.45 inches
2016: 2.83 inches
In 2006, the Boston area saw 12.48 inches of rain in the month of May, the most since 1954.
According to the Weatherstem website, "The official 24-hour rainfall record for the state of Massachusetts is 18.15 inches observed at Westfield, MA on (Aug. 18-19), 1955 was a result of Hurricane Diane."
Recent rainfall has ended the long drought in Massachusetts in most of the state.
In May, the state declared that only two parts of the Bay State remain in droughts, a significant improvement from earlier this last year and last fall when the state was dealing with a high number of wildfires. As of last month, only the Southeast region of the Bay State was at a Level 1 (mild drought), while the Cape Cod region was at Level 2 (significant drought).
Cape Cod is the only part of Massachusetts that is in a drought status at this time.
The U.S. Drought Monitor map indicates that the majority of Cape Cod is in a "moderate drought" status, while the upper Cape and a small part of Plymouth County are "abnormally dry."
The map also shows that Martha's Vineyard is abnormally dry, with Nantucket in a moderate drought.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Southwest wind 6 to 10 mph.
Thursday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. Southwest wind 6 to 9 mph.
Friday: A slight chance of showers after 1 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. South wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday night: A chance of showers after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. Southwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. South wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Saturday night: A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 58. South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Sunday: A chance of showers before 10 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming west after midnight.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: May 2025 was one of MA's wettest. What's Cape Cod's weekend forecast?
