NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

 

JUNE 2018

 

1-9: Showers were most numerous across the northern U.S., with a few areas in the upper Midwest receiving excessive rainfall (locally 2 to 6 inches) on June 9-10.  Parts of the South, mainly from Texas to Florida, also received locally heavy rain. Elsewhere, occasional showers from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Rockies contrasted with mostly dry weather in California and the Southwest.  By week’s end, more than a dozen wildfires, in various stages of containment, were actively burning in the Four Corners States.

 Early-week showers provided very limited drought relief in the southern Rockies and environs. Daily-record rainfall totals for June 3 included 0.57 inch in Albuquerque, NM, and 0.56 inch in Alamosa, CO.  Meanwhile, heavy showers in the Mid-Atlantic States resulted in local flooding.  The Potomac River in Washington, DC, crested 3.63 feet above flood stage on June 5—the highest level in that location since March 2010.  Showers eventually shifted southward but lingered for several days across Florida’s peninsula, where Orlando collected a daily-record sum of 2.35 inches on June 7.  Throughout the week, showers and locally severe thunderstorms dotted the Plains.  In Kansas, Medicine Lodge received a daily-record rainfall (1.56 inches) on June 7.  Before daybreak on June 9, thunderstorm wind gusts in Nebraska were clocked to 74 mph in Lincoln and Grand Island.  After mid-week, shower activity increased across the northern Plains and the Northwest.  Lewistown, MT, tallied a daily-record total of 2.25 inches on June 7.  The following day, on June 8, Quillayute, WA, also measured a daily-record sum (1.52 inches).  At week’s end, heavy showers spread across portions of the Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic States.  Record-setting totals for June 9 included 2.02 inches in Waterloo, IA, and 1.97 inches in Rockford, IL.  In southeastern Minnesota, Mabel netted 5.22 inches in a 24-hour period on June 9-10.

10-16: At week’s end, Southwestern showers associated with the remnants of eastern Pacific Hurricane Bud provided local drought relief and aided wildfire containment efforts.  Some of the late-week showers spilled across the southern High Plains. The week opened with heavy rain soaking portions of the northern Mid-Atlantic States.  For example, numerous totals of 4 to 6 inches were observed in a 24-hour period on June 10-11 in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.  On June 12, daily-record totals topped 2 inches in locations such as London, KY (2.56 inches); Lumberton, NC (2.39 inches); and Chanute, KS (2.29 inches).  Meanwhile, several impressive rounds of rain struck the Midwest.  In Illinois, rainfall from June 9-12 totaled 8.02 inches in Mattoon and 4.70 inches in Lawrenceville.  Elsewhere in Illinois, Rockford netted a daily-record sum (2.59 inches) for June 15.  In Wisconsin, record-setting rainfall totals for June 15 included 3.34 inches in Ashland  and 2.68 inches in Wausau.  From June 15-17, Ashland’s 3day rainfall reached 7.88 inches.  Meanwhile in Arizona, consecutive daily-record totals were set on June 15-16 in Tucson (0.17 and 0.74 inch) and Douglas (0.37 and 0.39 inch).  The rain ended Tucson’s sixth-longest spell without measurable precipitation at 106 days (March 1 – June 14).  Other record-setting rainfall totals for June 16 included 1.42 inches in Amarillo, TX, and 0.83 inch in Albuquerque, NM.  The June 16 rainfall accounted for 37 percent of Albuquerque’s year-to-date total of 2.24 inches and 46 percent of Amarillo’s year-to-date sum of 3.11 inches.  Through June 16, Amarillo’s year-to-date precipitation improved to 38 percent of the normal value of 8.20 inches.

 

17-23: Large sections of the country experienced scattered to locally heavy showers, in spite of general warmth.  In fact, inundating rainfall struck the western Gulf Coast region, eradicating drought concerns but sparking major flooding in southern and coastal Texas.  Meanwhile, periods of heavy rain soaked portions of the Plains and Midwest, maintaining abundant to locally excessive soil moisture in many areas.  Rainfall was lighter, however, in much of the Southeast.  In addition, rainfall largely bypassed the nation’s southwestern quadrant, stretching from California to western Texas. The week began in the midst of a heavy-rain event in parts of Montana.  In a 96-hour period from June 16-20, Gibson Dam, west of Great Falls, MT, received 7.50 inches of rain.  It was Gibson Dam’s highest 4-day total since June 1964.  Elsewhere in Montana, June 16-19 rainfall totaled 2.10 inches in Helena and 2.09 inches in Great Falls.  Meanwhile, heavy rain also drenched the upper Great Lakes region.  In Wisconsin, record-setting rainfall totals for June 17 included 3.37 inches in Ashland and 2.39 inches in Eau Claire.  Ashland’s 3-day total, from June 15-17, reached 7.88 inches.  Farther south, torrential rainfall also pounded the western Gulf Coast region, where weekly totals in Texas reached 13.29 inches in Beaumont-Port Arthur; 10.68 inches in Harlingen; and 10.13 inches in Corpus Christi.  The bulk of Beaumont-Port Arthur’s rain, 10.94 inches, fell on June 18-19.  More than half of Harlingen’s rain, 5.90 inches, occurred on June 20.  Less-organized rainfall fell in many other areas, with daily-record totals topping the 2-inch mark in locations such as Massena, NY (3.31 inches on June 18); Valentine, NE (3.04 inches on June 20); Concordia, KS (2.58 inches on June 19); Cedar Rapids, IA (2.50 inches on June 21); Elizabeth City, NC (2.47 inches on June 20); Rockford, IL (2.36 inches on June 21); Tupelo, MS (2.10 inches on June 21); and Daytona Beach, FL (2.03 inches on June 21).  Fort Wayne, IN, measured daily-record totals, 2.01 and 1.86 inches, respectively, on June 19 and 21.  In Virginia, record-setting totals for June 22 included 7.61 inches in Richmond and 2.28 inches in Norfolk.  For Richmond, it was easily the wettest June day on record, supplanting 3.91 inches on June 18, 1972.  Rain in the Rappahannock River basin pushed the river 13.2 feet above flood stage on June 23 in Fredericksburg, VA—the highest crest in that location since the Hurricane Fran-induced flood of September 1996.  Meanwhile, major flooding developed along several Missouri River tributaries, including the Big Sioux and Little Sioux Rivers.  The Big Sioux River at Akron, IA, crested 7.51 feet above flood stage on June 23, second only to a June 2014 high-water mark of 9.59 feet above flood stage.  Similarly, the Little Sioux River at Linn Grove, IA, surged 4.62 feet above flood stage on June 24, less than 3.5 inches below the June 2014 crest record.

 

24-30: Widespread showers continued across large sections of the central and eastern U.S., maintaining adequate to locally excessive soil moisture for many summer crops.  Pockets of heavy rain sparked local flooding in a few areas, including the western Corn Belt and the Tennessee Valley. Shifting showers brought locally heavy rain, sometimes accompanied by flash flooding, gusty winds, and large hail, to a variety of locations.  On the 25th, Cape Girardeau, MO, experienced its wettest June day on record, with a 4.16-inch total (previously, 3.83 inches on June 28, 1989).  It was also Cape Girardeau’s wettest day since April 25, 2011, when 4.69 inches fell.  Daily-record totals topped 2 inches in many other communities, including Fort Smith, AR (2.86 inches on June 24); Des Moines, IA (2.67 inches on June 25); Florence, SC (2.34 inches on June 25); Waterloo, IA (2.29 inches on June 30); Crossville, TN (2.24 inches on June 27); Rockford, IL (2.20 inches on June 26); and Wilmington, NC (2.09 inches on June 26).  The late-month rain capped Rockford’s wettest June and month on record; the 14.23-inch total erased its June 1993 standard of 11.85 inches and edged its August 2007 mark of 13.98 inches.  Rockford received at least an inch of rain on 6 days during June—a record in that location for any month—and collected more than 2 inches on 3 days (June 15, 21, and 26), tying an August 1936 standard.

 

Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com