Wednesday, June 1, 2011

June Bugs




































June bugs me sometimes---the heavy storms of summer almost always are slower to arrive than I'd like, and the tropicas are (usually) quiet. However this year may be an exception---some of the model forecasts for the Caribbean from June 5th on are quite rambunctious! June is a warm month here, although not usually very hot. However, last year we had our highest temperature in 8 years of records at my home station on June 14th! So you never know!

Usually, rainfall increases during June as the atmosphere begins to moisten and the seabreezes that push showers inland weakens (slightly). However, this year may be an exception, as last year was. Our drought is of such long duration, and I see nothing in the patterns that wants to break it.

May was hot and dry, with an official rainfall of 0.58", 2.11" below normal for the month. Our yearly deficit started at 5.00" below normal at the beginning of May, and deepened to 7.11" below normal at the end of May. Our rainfall deficit has been more than 60" since January 1, 2006. Last year was our driest on record, going back to 1948. We had rainfall of 24.27" in 2010, exactly 24" below normal. This year rainfall has been 9.67" so far, which is 1.37" less than last year on this date. Will we have a new driest year on record? It's beginning to be a serious possibility.

May was warmer than normal, although the departure was not as great as in April. May had an average temp of of 75.3 at KSSI, which is 1.6 degrees above normal. The highest temperature was 92 on May 21st and the lowest was 54 on May 5th and 18th. Two records were tied, none were broken.

Date..................actual..............normal................departure.............notes

June 1...............72.5 / 88.5.......70.3 / 84.7...........+3.0
June 2...............73.4 / 85.1.......70.5 / 84.9...........+1.5
June 3...............71.8 / 87.6.......70.7 / 85.0...........+1.8
June 4...............72.7 / 85.8.......70.9 / 85.2...........+1.2
June 5...............71.8 / 89.8.......71.1 / 85.3...........+2.6
June 6...............74.3 / 88.3.......71.3 / 85.5...........+2.9
June 7...............74.1 / 86.2.......71.5 / 85.7...........+1.5
June 8...............71.6 / 84.4.......71.6 / 85.8............-0.7
June 9...............69.6 / 84.2.......71.7 / 85.9............-1.9
June 10.............68.7 / 85.1.......71.9 / 86.0............-2.0
June 11.............71.6 / 85.3.......72.0 / 86.2............-0.6
June 12.............70.7 / 86.5.......72.1 / 86.4............-0.6
June 13.............75.0 / 91.6.......72.3 / 86.5............+3.9
June 14.............72.9 / 96.8.......72.5 / 86.7............+5.2
June 15.............75.6 / 87.8.......72.5 / 86.8............+2.0
June 16.............65.5 / 84.4.......72.6 / 87.0............-4.8.................2.77" rain
June 17.............70.9 / 87.4.......72.8 / 87.1............-0.6.................0.06" rain
June 18.............69.6 / 90.9.......72.8 / 87.1............+0.3
June 19.............76.5 / 91.2.......72.9 / 87.2............+3.8
June 20.............75.6 / 95.2.......73.0 / 87.4............+5.2
June 21.............76.3 / 91.9.......73.0 / 87.5............+3.8
June 22.............72.7 / 92.5.......73.1 / 87.7............+2.2................0.47" rain
June 23.............71.6 / 89.8.......73.2 / 87.8............+0.2................0.29" rain
June 24.............71.8 / 88.0.......73.3 / 87.9............-0.7
June 25.............70.3 / 86.7.......73.4 / 88.0............-2.2.................0.06" rain
June 26.............69.3 / 88.5.......73.5 / 88.2............-1.9
June 27.............71.2 / 90.5.......73.6 / 88.4............-0.1
June 28.............71.2 / 86.5.......73.7 / 88.6............-2.3
June 29.............72.7 / 90.3.......73.9 / 88.7...........+0.2.................1.87" rain
June 30.............72.9 / 85.3.......74.0 / 88.8............-2.3

Highs

40s.........4
50s.........20
60s.........33
70s.........46
80s.........57
90s.........21

Lows

20s.........4
30s.........15
40s.........27
50s.........49
60s.........36
70s.........50

Freezes.......6

Record high tied June 14, 99, also 99 in 2010 and 1963.
June 16 had the coolest morning low since May 19, and was the wettest day since January 21, 2010, which had 2.78"