June 2006 National Climate Report

June:

• June temperatures were much above normal for the contiguous United States. Nationally, it was the second warmest June in the 1895-2006 record. Western regions were all much-above-normal, with Nevada experiencing its second warmest June on record. Only the Central and Southeast regions were near-normal. No region had below-normal temperatures in June, although five states (Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and South Carolina) were cooler-than-normal in June. For information on temperature records during the month, please visit NCDC's Extremes page.
  
  
• Nationally, precipitation was below-normal for June, ranking as 25th driest June in the 112 year record (1895-2006). However, regionally, the Northeast had its second wettest June on record, while the East North Central was much-below-normal for the month. Numerous states in the Mid-Atlantic and New England experienced one of their top three wettest Junes, and Delaware had its wettest June on record. Much of the above-normal precipitation for the Northeast came as a result of an exceptionally heavy rainfall event during the last week of June that generated local precipitation records from Washington, D.C., up through central New York state. Resulting flooding claimed over a dozen lives and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents as dams and levees were in danger of failure. Significant drought continued in the Southern Plains and Desert Southwest, with exceptional drought persisting in southernmost Texas and southeastern Arizona. For more information on drought during June, please visit the U.S. Drought page.
  
  
• Tropical Storm Alberto led off the Atlantic 2006 Tropical Cyclone Season. Alberto became a named Tropical Storm on June 11th and dissipated on the 14th, reaching maximum sustained winds of 40 kts (46 mph or 74 km h^-1). For statistics on the Atlantic storm season, please see NCDC's 2006 Atlantic basin Tropical Cyclone page. The Atlantic season began on 01 June.

• Indices used to determine the state of ENSO indicate neutral conditions that are expected to persist through the next several months. Sea Surface Temperatures were near average across the eastern equatorial Pacific during June. To see the latest NOAA advisory and typical impacts of a La Niña or El Niño episode for the U.S., go to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. For an in-depth analysis of the current conditions see NCDC's ENSO Monitoring page.

• June 2006 was the second warmest June in the 1895-2006 record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 71.8°F (22.1°C), which was 2.5°F (1.4°C) above the 1901-2000 (20th century) June mean.
  
  
• June had below average precipitation nationally, ranking as the 25th driest June in the 1895-2006 record. An average 2.58 inches (66 mm) fell over the contiguous U.S. in June, 0.3 inches (8 mm) below the 20th century mean for the month.
  
  
• April-June was the warmest such period in the 1895-to-present record. The preliminary nationally averaged April-June temperature was 64.0°F (17.8°C), which was 3.2°F (1.8°C) above the 1901-2000 average for the period. April-June was also the 25th driest such period on record. An average of 7.42 inches (188 mm) of precipitation fell, which was 0.8 inches (20 mm) below the 20th century mean.
  
  
• The year-to-date (Jan-June) nationally-averaged temperature was 51.8°F (11°C), which at 3.4°F (1.9°C) above the 20th century mean, ranked as the warmest such period in the 112 year record. At 13.61 inches (346 mm), January - June precipitation was 1.2 inches (30 mm) below normal, ranking it as 22nd driest such period in the 1895-2006 record.
  
  
• The July 2005 - June 2006 is ranked as the warmest such period in the 1895-2006 record. The preliminary nationally-averaged 12-month temperature was 55.3°F (12.9°C), or 2.5°F (1.4°C) above the 20th century mean. Precipitation was below average for the July 2005 - June 2006 period, ranking it as the 35th driest July-June in the 111 record. Nationally-averaged total 12-month precipitation was 28.11 inches (714 mm), 1.1 inches (28 mm) below the 1901-2000 mean.

• June 2006 temperatures ranked much-above-normal for western regions and near-normal for central and southeast regions. Nevada had its second warmest June on record, while Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and South Carolina were cooler-than-normal for the month.
  
  
• June was much-drier-than-average for much of the East North Central region and the Northeast had its second wettest June on record. Delaware, with a record June rainfall of 9.45 inches (240 mm), or 5.8 inches (147 mm) above the 20th century mean, was just one of several states with much-above-normal precipitation for the month.
  
  
• April - June temperatures were above to much-above-average for all of the contiguous US, except Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Carolina, which were near-normal. Four states, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana experienced record warmth for this period.
  
  
• Due to several heavy precipitation events, the 3-month period ending with June was much-wetter-than-normal in the Northeast, with Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut all having record April - June precipitation totals. Only Texas and Colorado were much-drier-than-normal, with Colorado experiencing its second driest such period on record.
  
  
• The year-to-date (Jan-Jun) was record warm in the South, and above- to much-above-normal over the remainder of the contiguous United States. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri all had record year-to-date temperatures, while eight additional states experienced their second warmest January-June temperatures on record. No state was cooler-than-average during this period.
  
  
• January - June precipitation was much-above-normal in the Northeast, above-normal in western regions, near-normal in the Central and East North Central, and drier-than-normal in the Southeast, South, Southwest and West North Central regions. New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were much-wetter-than-average, while Colorado, Arizona and Florida were all much drier than average for the year-to-date.
  
  
• July 2005 - June 2006 was warmer- or much-warmer-than-average for all of the contiguous U.S., with the South, East North Central and Northeast regions all experiencing record warmth for the period. Eight states observed record warmth for the period, while eight additional states had their second warmest July-June on record.
  
  
• The last 12 months saw record July-June precipitation in the Northeast, above-normal precipitation in the West and Northwest, near-normal in the East North Central, and below- to much-below-normal precipitation elsewhere. Nearly all New England states had record precipitation for the period, while just three states (Arizona, Arkansas and Louisiana were much-drier-than-normal.

  
  See NCDC's Monthly Extremes web-page for weather and climate records for the month of June.