Preliminary Climate Summary for June 2020

Preliminary Climate Summary for June 2020:

With just four days left in the month, we can summarize the climate for the month of June: very warm; and very mixed rainfall amounts.

On a statewide basis this June is the warmest since 1995 and either the 7th or 8th warmest in state history back to 1895, with a mean monthly temperature near 68°F Within the Minnesota climate network 75 daily maximum temperature records were tied or set this month, along with 66 records tied or broken for warm overnight minimum temperatures, including 77° at Milan and Canby on June 8th. Average temperature for the month ranged from 3 to 5 degrees F above normal. Extremes for the month ranged from 102°F at Granite Falls (Yellow Medicine County) on June 7th to 29°F at Cotton (St Louis County) and Seagull Lake (Cook County) on June 13th.

Rainfall for the month was highly variable. In the northwest and southeast counties many climate stations reported well above normal rainfall amounts ranging from 6-9 inches, mostly because of a few very heavy thunderstorm rains. Lake Bronson in Kittson County reported a monthly total of nearly 11 inches, while Caledonia in Houston County reported over 9 inches. On June 8th Hallock (Kittson County) received 4.24 inches of rainfall, a new daily record and the largest single day June rainfall in their climate record back to 1899. It was also the 5th largest one-day rainfall in history at that location. Across the state June 2020 produced 37 new daily rainfall records within the Minnesota climate network.

However, many areas of the state saw few storms pass over and were left with large rainfall deficits for the month, especially from west-central Minnesota through northeastern Minnesota. Unless some rainfall occurs over the last four days of the month residents of Duluth, Cloquet, Kimball, Bird Island, and Willmar will see less than an inch of rainfall for June. This trend has placed many of these areas in moderate drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Perhaps scattered thunderstorms over the last few days of June will bring some relief to these areas.

The most unusual climate feature of the month was the high wind speed. Nearly all climate states reported greater than normal mean wind speed, and several reported from 14 to 18 days with wind gusts over 30 mph. Many areas of the state including Fergus Falls, Rothsay, Bemidji, and even the Twin Cities reported wind gusts that exceeded 50 mph. A tornado was reported as far north as Lake of the Woods County on June 7th. Fortunately, it was short-lived. The Minnesota State Climatology Office offers a description of these storms on its web site.

Weekly Weather Potpourri:

A massive plume of desert dust has migrated across the Atlantic from the African Sahara and blanketed the Gulf of Mexico with a haze. This dust was also circulating across the southeastern states on Thursday and Friday this week, highly visible from satellite imagery. It enhanced the orange and red sky color of sunrise and sunset in many places. You can read more about this from CNN or the BBC web sites.

Scientists have studied the relationships of massive volcanic eruptions historically with the patterns of El Nino in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Though there are no conclusions drawn about any certainties in the relationships of the El Nino pattern to past volcanic eruptions a recent article by Tom Di Liberto of NOAA makes for some interesting reading.

Linda Lam of the Weather Undergroundhas written an interesting article this week highlighting the number of 90 degrees F days that have already occurred for several cities around the USA and comparing to the historical record for the greatest number of such days. It is interesting to note that in the Twin Cities there have been 5 days of 90 degrees F so far in June, but far off the pace of 1988 which produced 44 such days that summer. Not surprising is the record number of 90 degrees F days at Death Valley in a year which was 220 days back in 1934.

MPR listener question:

I have heard you talk mostly about the wind this month, but it has also produced a number of 90 degrees F days (4 here in Kimball-Stearns County). Which communities in Minnesota have seen the thermometer hit 100 degrees this month?

Answer:

So far the climate stations at Granite Falls, Morris, Milan, Benson, Sabin, and Artichoke Lake have reported 100 degrees F or greater this month. A 102°F temperature at Granite Falls on June 7th just missed tying the all-time state record for the date of 103°F at Little Falls back in 2011. Reaching 100 degrees F in June is somewhat rare for these climate stations and occurs historically about once every 20 years or so.

Twin Cities Almanac for June 26th

The average MSP high temperature for this date is 82 degrees F (plus or minus 8 degrees F standard deviation), while the average low is 62 degrees F (plus or minus 7 degrees F standard deviation).

MSP Local Records for June 26th:

MSP records for this date include: highest daily maximum temperature of 99 degrees F in 1931; lowest daily maximum temperature of 55 degree F in 1968; lowest daily minimum temperature of 46 degrees F in 1926; highest daily minimum temperature of 78 degrees F in 1931; record precipitation of 2.54 inches in 1998. No snowfall has occurred on this date.

Average dew point for June 26th is 58°F; the maximum dew point on this date is 78°F in 2007; and the minimum dew point on this date is 37°F in 1926.

All-time state records for June 26th:

The state record high temperature for this date is 106 degrees F at Faribault (Rice County) in 1934. The state record low temperature for this date is 30 degrees F at Fosston (Polk County) in 1929. The state record precipitation for this date is 5.20 inches at Morris (Stevens County) in 1914. No snowfall has occurred on this date.

Past Weather Features:

June 26, 1933 was the hottest in state history with 17 counties reporting afternoon temperatures of 100 degrees F or higher. Most other places were in the 90s F. Grand Marais Harbor was the cool spot with an afternoon reading of just 59 degrees F.

A cold morning for campers in northern Minnesota on June 26, 1982 when they woke up to temperatures that ranged from 30 to 32 degrees F across portions of St Louis and Carleton Counties. It did warm into the 70s F by mid-afternoon.

June 26-27, 1998 brought strong thunderstorms to many parts of the state. Many portions of southern Minnesota report 2-3 inches of rain, while Scott, Olmsted, and Goodhue Counties saw rain totals of 4-6 inches. The storms also brought hail and high winds in some areas ruining the second crop of alfalfa hay.

Outlook:

A mostly sunny weekend coming up with a warming trend, as temperatures will average several degrees above normal. Increasing cloudiness later on Sunday with a chance for showers or thunderstorms. There will be a continued chance for showers and thunderstorms Monday through Thursday, with temperatures remaining warmer than normal, and higher dew points.