State of The Climate - June

No one probably needs to be told that June was an unusual weather month for Georgia and much of the southeast with cooler than normal temperatures and much above normal rainfall. But how does this June rank compared to previous Junes? Here's a look at data from the National Climatic Data Center and the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

Southeast
June was an exceptionally wet month across the Southeast, as more than half of the region recorded monthly precipitation totals in excess of 10 inches, which was between 200 and 400 percent of normal. Augusta, GA and Macon, GA recorded their wettest June on record with 10.83 and 12.25 inches, respectively. Remarkably, through the first half of the year, Macon, GA has received 42 inches of precipitation, which is 8 inches more than it received for the entire year in 2012. Several locations recorded one of their top 5 wettest Junes on record, including Raleigh-Durham, NC (3rd wettest), Asheville, NC (3rd wettest), Washington, D.C. (4th wettest), Atlanta, GA (4th wettest), and Birmingham, AL (4th wettest). 

The warmest weather of the month occurred on the 13th as temperatures reached the mid and upper 90s F (30s C) across a large portion of the region. The remainder of the month exhibited relatively few high maximum temperature extremes. In fact, the number of 90 degree F (32.2 degrees C) and greater days through the first half of the year was significantly lower than normal at a number of locations. Both Atlanta, GA and Athens, GA recorded only four such days compared to an average of 11 and 16 days, respectively. Greensboro, NC logged only two 90 degree F and greater days compared to an average of 11 days. In contrast, minimum temperatures were exceptionally warm in June. Several locations recorded monthly minimum temperature departures of 5 to 6 degrees F (2.8 to 3.3 degrees C) above average, as over 200 daily high minimum temperature records were tied or broken across the region. 

US
And despite the cooler than normal temps and above normal rainfall here, the rest of the country was wishing they had what we had.

• The June average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 70.4°F, 2.0°F above the 20th century average, and ranked as the 15th warmest such month on record.

• The nationally-averaged June precipitation total of 3.43 inches was 0.54 inch above the 20th century average, and was the 13th wettest June on record for the contiguous United States.

• On a local basis, over three times as many record warm highs and lows occurred than record cold highs and lows. Approximately 1,300 record warm daily high temperature records and 1,480 record warm daily low temperature records were tied or broken. In comparison, approximately 200 record cold daily low temperature records and 510 record cold daily high temperature records were tied or broken. (These numbers are preliminary and are expected to change as more data arrive.)