WASHINGTON — Last month was the wettest on record for the contiguous United States, according to federal meteorologists.

On average 4.36 inches of rain and snow — mostly rain — fell over the Lower 48 in May, sloshing past October 2009 which had been the wettest month in U.S. records with 4.29 inches. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records go back to 1895.

NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch said the record was triggered by stalled pattern of storms that dumped massive amounts of rain in the central U.S., especially in Texas and Oklahoma.