May Discobs 2026

[IronTy]

What the F?  Just looking at the skin on my hands you'd think it was January outside.  

[kgottwald]

On 5/7/2026 at 10:13 PM, wxdude64 said:

Running a -5.5 for the first week of the month, only + day was the 6th (+2.4 degrees) and looks like Saturday and Sunday may be the only days with a chance at positive numbers thru the next 7 days. Chilly May start. 

Is it possible that May will be cooler than April?

[frd]

I can only hope 

 

[frd]

Ugh

 

[Bob Chill]

1 hour ago, frd said:

Ugh

 

Smith mtn lake is over 5'  below full pool. Many ramps including the one in my hood are unusable. Many boats on lifts cannot touch the water. It's apparently the lowest the lake has been since 1968 which was just a few years after it filled up for the first time. Lake levels are generally quite stable and typically don't fluctuate more than a foot or 2 throughout the year. 

The recent rain helped knocked the dust down but I'm starting to think it's going to take a tropical event to reset this drought with any efficiency. Thankfully the well on our property on the other side of the mountain has no competition from neighboring landowners. 

[frd]

8 minutes ago, Bob Chill said:

Smith mtn lake is over 5'  below full pool. Many ramps including the one in my hood are unusable. Many boats on lifts cannot touch the water. It's apparently the lowest the lake has been since 1968 which was just a few years after it filled up for the first time. Lake levels are generally quite stable and typically don't fluctuate more than a foot or 2 throughout the year. 

The recent rain helped knocked the dust down but I'm starting to think it's going to take a tropical event to reset this drought with any efficiency. Thankfully the well on our property on the other side of the mountain has no competition from neighboring landowners. 

Yes, a very serious situation.  We need some type of reset event, and soon!  

[nw baltimore wx]

Looking at the radar, it’s remarkable how the rain knows where the Mason-Dixon Line is located.

[snowfan]

Hey, so uh, where's the rain?

[WxUSAF]

5 minutes ago, snowfan said:

Hey, so uh, where's the rain?

Pennsylvania!

[IronTy]

Until there's an event that originates from the SE on this side of the mountains it's gonna be disappointment for us.  I've given up even one iota of hope from any frontal passage coming in from the NW.  

[GramaxRefugee]

4 hours ago, Bob Chill said:

Smith mtn lake is over 5'  below full pool. Many ramps including the one in my hood are unusable. Many boats on lifts cannot touch the water. It's apparently the lowest the lake has been since 1968 which was just a few years after it filled up for the first time. Lake levels are generally quite stable and typically don't fluctuate more than a foot or 2 throughout the year. 

The recent rain helped knocked the dust down but I'm starting to think it's going to take a tropical event to reset this drought with any efficiency. Thankfully the well on our property on the other side of the mountain has no competition from neighboring landowners. 

Last I knew, Smith was released during the day and pumped back up at night to get power when needed ,(read expensive)...a 2 lake system. So, I'm guessing power demand affects it too. Looked at this site,  and it is down 5'...

https://www.smithmtn.com/lake-levels/

...but it's been lower. 

Appalachian Power used to have a great visitor center at the dam with large models that explain their system. It's out of the way, but really worth it. Staffed by volunteers too. Been years since I was down that way...hope it's still in operation.

[kgottwald]

Sprinkles popping up IMBY. Small red cell in Takoma Park/Langley Park MD.

[MN Transplant]

Got a few drips.  Hope more pops up to the SW.

[WxUSAF]

Missed by a couple miles with the first round 

[jac_not_in_dc]

Looked at the radar and saw nothing close by, looked out the window 10 minutes later and it was pouring, in downtown Bethesda. Guess that cell popped up right over me.

[JenkinsJinkies]

Found this in the NYC forum, the Appalachians are acting like an anti rain force field for pretty much the entire eastern seaboard.

[wxmeddler]

5 hours ago, Bob Chill said:

The recent rain helped knocked the dust down but I'm starting to think it's going to take a tropical event to reset this drought with any efficiency. 

Careful what you wish for....

I got clipped by the pop-up shower around 1:30p. Got a whopping 0.02" out of it!

[CAPE]

2 hours ago, IronTy said:

Until there's an event that originates from the SE on this side of the mountains it's gonna be disappointment for us.  I've given up even one iota of hope from any frontal passage coming in from the NW.  

The pattern has been largely de-amplified with much of the h5 energy on the weak side-strung out and mostly to the north of us. PWATs have sucked with a predominant westerly component to the flow- all downslope with little to no flow/moisture ingress from the south. Comfortable temps with low DPs, but not conducive to getting any appreciable rainfall in our area this time of year. If we want rain we need a big ass HP off the coast to pump the warm/moist air northward with some cold fronts moving through.. we need warm and humid.

[stormy]

40 minutes ago, CAPE said:

The pattern has been largely de-amplified with much of the h5 energy on the weak side-strung out and mostly to the north of us. PWATs have sucked with a predominant westerly component to the flow- all downslope with little to no flow/moisture ingress from the south. Comfortable temps with low DPs, but not conducive to getting any appreciable rainfall in our area this time of year. If we want rain we need a big ass HP off the coast to pump the warm/moist air northward with some cold fronts moving through.. we need warm and humid.

We don't get big ass HP off the coast.

We get hp ridges along the coast that pump in dry air and suppress convection.

I don't see relief until Fall.

[WxUSAF]

Euro caves to the gfs and turns Wednesday/thursday into a weak frontal passage. 

[IronTy]

1 hour ago, CAPE said:

The pattern has been largely de-amplified with much of the h5 energy on the weak side-strung out and mostly to the north of us. PWATs have sucked with a predominant westerly component to the flow- all downslope with little to no flow/moisture ingress from the south. Comfortable temps with low DPs, but not conducive to getting any appreciable rainfall in our area this time of year. If we want rain we need a big ass HP off the coast to pump the warm/moist air northward with some cold fronts moving through.. we need warm and humid.

Yeah that's pretty much it ..our savior isn't going to come from the NW, it's gonna have to come from the SE.  Maybe we'll have another record humid July with thunderstorms every day.  It is good to see the extreme SE starting to get consistent precip.  Eventually one will come north to hit us.  

I do watch the anomalously cold waters in the North Atlantic and wonder about those.  It's been pretty persistent.  No idea what that means for us and summer though.