Historically and in verse, April is a time of showers, but in Mount Airy this year that rain showed up in May instead, according to a monthly weather analysis.

Rainfall totaled 6.07 inches last month, which exceeded the May average of 4.12 inches, based on the report from Mount Airy’s F.G. Doggett Water Plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.

That output also dwarfed the April total of 1.90 inches. However, it fell short of the May 2009 rainfall of 8.08 inches — the second-highest total for the fifth month of the year since local weather records were first compiled in 1924.

Almost as much rain was recorded for a single day last month, 1.45 inches on May 29, than fell all during April. Measurable precipitation occurred on 14 of May’s 31 days.

The May total also helped Mount Airy maintain a precipitation surplus for the year, which stood at 17.3 percent above normal at the start of June. Just shy of 22 inches of precipitation has been logged so far, compared to the average of 18.75 inches for the January-through-May period.

Temperature extremes last month ranged from a high of 89 on May 28 to a low of 34 on May 10.