NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

JUNE 2023

4-10:  Showers and thunderstorms across large sections of the Plains slowed fieldwork, including winter wheat harvesting, but provided beneficial moisture for rangeland, pastures, immature winter grains, and summer crops. Weekly totals greater than 2 inches were common, especially from Montana to the central Plains.

For much of the week, heavy showers peppered the Plains, Rockies, and Intermountain West. Casper, WY, received 1.77 inches of rain during the first 10 days of the month, aided by a daily-record total of 0.51 inch on June 4. Similarly, Laramie, WY, measured 2.08 inches from June 1-10, with 0.76 inch (a record for the date) falling on the 7th. During a streak of 9 consecutive days (May 30 – June 7) with 90-degree heat, Sisseton, SD, was pelted by 2.10 inches of rain, a record for the date, on June 5. In Montana, Butte (1.82 inches on the 6th) experienced its wettest June day in well over 100 years, surpassing 1.49 inches on June 14, 1948. Elsewhere in Montana, the airport in Bozeman endured its third-wettest day on record, with 1.89 inches falling on June 8. Wetter days at Bozeman Airport occurred on June 25, 1969, with 2.14 inches, and May 25, 1980, with 1.91 inches. Scattered showers also overspread the mid-South, where Harrison, AR, noted a record-setting total (2.61 inches) for June 8. Scattered dailyrecord amounts were also scattered across the Plains and Northwest; amounts included 1.12 inches (on June 7) in Clayton, NM, and 0.61 inch (on June 9) in Burns, OR. Clayton collected another record-setting sum (1.88 inches) on June 10. Late in the week, locally heavy showers continued across the Plains and adjacent Rockies—and dotted California and the Great Basin. Record-setting rainfall totals for June 10 reached 2.53 inches in Valentine, NE; 1.00 inch in Sheridan, WY; and 0.59 inch in Bishop, CA. In Alaska, significant precipitation in early June was mostly limited to a few interior locations and the state’s southern tier. From June 7-10, Bettles received rainfall totaling 0.86 inch. Similarly, Kodiak netted a weekly (June 4-10) sum of 3.75 inches.

11-17: A nearly stationary frontal boundary stretching from the central and southern Plains into the lower Southeast sparked daily showers and thunderstorms, some severe. Starting on June 13 and continuing for a week, thunderstorms spawned more than six dozen tornadoes, according to preliminary reports. On June 15, an EF-3 tornado struck Perryton, TX, resulting in three fatalities and dozens of injuries. Heavy rain along the boundary totaled 4 inches or more in several locations on the central High Plains and from northeastern Texas into northern Florida and southern sections of Alabama and Georgia.

Showers also extended into the Rockies and parts of the West, including the Great Basin and Intermountain region. In contrast, dry weather prevailed along and near the Pacific Coast and across the nation’s southern tier, extending as far east as southern Louisiana. Elsewhere, most of the Midwest received below-normal rainfall, with meaningful precipitation mostly restricted to parts of the eastern Midwest.  Much of Ohio received at least 2 to 4 inches of rain.

A separate area of heavy rain affected the lower Great Lakes region and the Northeast, where record-setting totals for June 12 reached 3.55 inches in Wilmington, DE, and 1.71 inches in Binghamton, NY. For Wilmington, it was the wettest day since August 4, 2020, when 4.48 inches fell. Farther south, daily thunderstorms produced localized wind damage and very large hail. On June 13, hail up to 5.5 inches in diameter battered parts of Wheeler County, TX. A day later in Brooksville, Noxubee County, MS, 5-inch hail was reported. Texarkana, AR, received a daily-record rainfall (3.41 inches) on June 13. The following day was the wettest June day on record in Georgia locations such as Albany (5.19 inches) and Columbus (4.40 inches). Previous records were 4.62 inches (on June 9, 2019) in Albany and 4.08 inches (on June 12, 1906) in Columbus. On the 15th, downpours near the Gulf Coast resulted in 9.30 inches of rain in Pensacola, FL—the wettest June day in that location since June 9, 2012, when 13.13 inches fell. At week’s end, heavy rain lingered across the South and Northeast, with daily-record amounts observed on June 17 in Leesburg, FL (2.34 inches), and Bangor, ME (1.25 inches).

18-22: Rain moved into the fringes of the Midwest, delivering much-needed moisture in parts of the Ohio Valley and upper Midwest.  Most significant rain, locally 2 to 4 inches or more, fell in the Dakotas. However, a core Midwestern drought area, stretching from Missouri to Michigan, received little or no precipitation, maintaining significant stress on crops.  Rain also drenched much of the Southeast, with 2- to 4-inch totals common in the Atlantic Coast States as far north as Virginia.

Early in the week, precipitation spread inland across the Northwest. Record-setting rainfall totals for June 18 included 0.98 inch in Portland, OR, and 0.50 inch in Stanley, ID. Through June 24, month-to-date rainfall in Buffalo, WY, climbed to 5.20 inches (291 percent of normal), with measurable precipitation falling on 19 days. Meanwhile, scattered downpours lingered across the South, where daily-record totals topped the 3-inch mark on June 19 in Meridian, MS (3.21 inches), and Miami, FL (3.04 inches). Two days later, St. Petersburg, FL, collected a daily-record sum of 3.28 inches. Locally severe thunderstorms accompanied the Southern rain, with an EF-3 tornado ripping across the community of Matador, Motley County, TX, on June 21, resulting in four fatalities. Farther north, torrential rainfall and severe thunderstorms in eastern Colorado produced daily-record totals on the 21st in Akron (2.93 inches) and Denver (1.85 inches). Late in the week, heavy showers lingered in the Southeast and developed across the north-central U.S. In Georgia, daily-record rainfall totals for June 22 reached 3.03 inches in Augusta and 2.47 inches in Macon. As rain spread northward along the Atlantic Coast, record-setting rainfall totals for June 23 included 2.42 inches in Wilmington, DE, and 2.18 inches in Norfolk, VA. Elsewhere, as heavy rain erupted across the Dakotas on June 24, daily-record amounts totaled 2.79 inches in Jamestown, ND, and 2.32 inches in Mobridge, SD. Conversely, several Illinois communities—including Decatur, Lincoln, Peoria, and Carbondale—remained on track for their driest June on record, with totals through the 24th ranging from onetenth to one-half inch.

June 25-July 1: On June 29, a derecho tore across some of the nation’s hardest-hit drought areas, including central Illinois, damaging crops that were already struggling amid nearrecord dryness. The windstorm, which emerged from the central Plains early in the day, later raked southern Iowa, northern Missouri, central Illinois, and central and southern Indiana; widespread wind gusts ranged from 60 to 100 mph. However, thunderstorms associated with the derecho provided beneficial moisture, with showery weather extending to other days during the second half of the week. In fact, drought-easing rainfall broadly totaled 1 to 3 inches or more from the central Plains into the Ohio Valley

Early in the week, locally heavy showers extended as far west as northeastern California, where Alturas experienced its wettest June day on record with a 1.81-inch total on the 25th. Previously, the wettest June day in Alturas had occurred on June 7, 1952, with 1.27 inches. Meanwhile, showers and thunderstorms peppered the Northeast, resulting in daily-record totals for June 26 in Wilmington, DE (3.31 inches), and Poughkeepsie, NY (1.77 inches). Elsewhere in New York, Syracuse netted a daily-record sum of 1.73 inches on June 27. Farther south, many areas remained dry, although spotty showers delivered locally heavy rain. For example, 4.03 inches—a record for the date—fell on June 27 in Vicksburg, MS. Later, record-setting rainfall totals for June 30 included 2.57 inches in Lexington, KY, and 2.40 inches in Crossville, TN. On June 29, a Midwestern derecho resulted hundreds of reports of wind damage across the southern Corn Belt. In Illinois, peak June 29 wind gusts were clocked to 79 mph in Champaign, 75 mph in Decatur, 69 mph in Lawrenceville, and 65 mph in Springfield. In neighboring states, gusts included 70 mph in Indianapolis, IN, and 64 mph in Kirksville, MO. Severe thunderstorms, albeit less widespread, lingered through week’s end, with St. Joseph, MO, reporting a gust to 82 mph on June 30. On the same date, peak gusts in Kansas reached 80 mph in Hill City and 62 mph in Topeka. Lamoni, IA, recorded a thunderstorm gust to 66 mph on June 30, a day after measuring 67 mph. On July 1, Midwestern showers continued, with daily-record amounts reported in Burlington, IA (2.51 inches), and Omaha, NE (1.60 inches). The late-June rain largely staved off record-setting dryness, although the monthly total of 0.30 inch (7 percent of normal) in Carbondale, IL, barely exceeded the June 1933 record low of 0.23 inch.

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