(Between the 4th of July holiday weekend and going out on two storm chases already this month, I never got around to putting together a June summary and July outlook until now.)
The month of June saw a hot start as temperatures soared well above average during the first eight days of the month, including the 103-degree reading in Minneapolis on June 7, before settling into a normal pattern for the remaining majority of June. As far as temperatures, June turned out to be pretty typical even though we did not see many 80+-degree readings over the course of the 30 days.
In Minneapolis, the average temperature for June was 69.5°F, which was 1.1°F above normal. Areas north and west of the Twin Cities metro finished the month with cooler than normal temperatures, which is right in line with the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) forecast for June. St. Cloud finished slightly above normal with temperatures 0.2°F above the average of 65.3°F.
While we began the spring with a lot of rain, June was a dryer month for much of central Minnesota. Rainfall was more than a half-inch deficit from normal in many spots. This was actually welcome relief for farmers to help with saturated fields that led to slower crop growth. Minneapolis finished with 5.28 inches of rain, which was 0.94 inches above normal. St. Cloud saw a little more than half of that, coming in with 2.87 inches, which was 1.64 inches of rain below normal. This contradicts the CPC precipitation forecast for June of above average rainfall for the state.
What does July have in store? Looking at the CPC forecast, it appears we will see more seasonal summer weather with temperatures closer to July normals. The effects of La Nina have since been long gone, and that should help temperatures begin to trend upwards.
According to the CPC, we should also see quite a bit of precipitation. A good chunk of the state is expected to see well above normal rainfall. This agrees with some of the model data I’ve been looking at through the middle of July. It appears the weather pattern will be more unsettled and the state will see storm system after storm system work their way across the state.
Between now and the 15th of the month, it is possible that parts of the state could see at least one or two episodes of severe weather. For a relatively quiet severe weather season in terms of the number of outbreaks we had, we may make up for it this month with the summer-like temperatures expected. The cooler temperatures so far this year has prevented widespread severe weather events from occurring. It will be something to keep and eye on.
This is also a good opportunity to stress the importance of having NOAA Weather Radio as an alert device in your home to keep you safe from natural disasters. RadioShack has many models available, from desktops to outdoor handhelds, are usually in-stock. Midland Radio and Reecom are two other manufacturers I recommend. A feature I highly recommend when looking for a weather radio is one with S.A.M.E. technology. This will allow to select which county or counties you would like to be alerted, so the tone alarm isn’t sounding for every single alert in the weather radio transmitter signal range. This is beneficial for the overnight hours when most people are asleep, and don’t want to be awaken to alerts for weather that will have no impact on their location.
Around the Twin Cities, NOAA Weather Radio is broadcast 24/7 on a frequency of 162.55 MHz, and will transmit weather information and emergency alerts for the 7-county metro area and other counties highlighted within the yellow outline below.
Codes for programming your weather radio for specific counties are illustrated below. In Minnesota, the S.A.M.E. code will be 027XXX, where XXX is the county you designate. For example, for selecting Hennepin County alerts, the code is 027053. Many weather radios will allow you to program a handful of counties, if you choose. Some of newer weather radios have the county codes already built-in, so all you have to do is select the name of the county from the radio’s LCD display to make it easy and hassle-free.
Enjoy the remainder of the week! I will be monitoring the potential for severe weather during the upcoming weekend, so be sure to check back for updates as we get closer to the end of the week.
RS
No comments:
Post a Comment