Weather

June 2004 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

This Month's Daily Statistics

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for June 2004

It seemed like the rain would never quit, but it actually has. According to the June 2004 daily statistics from the Saint Cloud Regional Airport, there was a total of 3.67 inches of rain, which is actually 0.84 below normal. More than two-thirds of June's rain (2.64 inches) fell between June 8 and June 16, including three days with more than half an inch of rain (8th, 9th, 11th). After the 16th, there were only two days with measurable rain (.23 on the 24th, .41 on the 27th).

Despite the monthly total rainfall in May and June, Saint Cloud nearly had a 31-day period with one of the highest rainfall totals on record. Between May 16 and June 16, Saint Cloud picked up 9.72 inches of rain. If this 32-day period made up a month, it would rank as the 6th rainiest month on record (111 years) and the rainiest since June 1990. (Previous months with rainfall over 9 inches are here) The normal total is 4.16 inches for this time.

The moisture conditions in Minnesota show the result of this rainfall. The latest Drought Monitor from the National Drought Mitigation Center indicates that only the north central part of Minnesota is short on moisture. The growing season rainfall (April 1 - June 30) from the Minnesota State Climatology Office indicates that most of central and southern Minnesota has had above normal rainfall with many areas from the Twin Cities southeastward picking up more than one-and-half times the normal total. The Saint Cloud growing season rainfall now stands at 11.69 inches, 2.08 inches above normal.Since the start of the year, the total precipitation stands at 14.26 inches, 1.60 inches above normal.

With all of the rain and clouds, one might expect that June would have colder than normal. The Saint Cloud average temperature was 63.0°F, 2.1°F below normal. However, temperatures were actually near normal through the end of the rainy period on the 16th. Because the thunderstorms were triggered by warm, humid air, the high temperature exceeded 75°F on 10 of the 16 days, including hitting a record-breaking 96°F on June 7th. In addition, the high humidity kept low temperatures in the 50's to low 60's through much of the rainy period. However, the dry out was caused by a northwesterly flow pattern that brought several surges of cool air from northwestern Canada into Minnesota. Between the 17th and the 28th, high temperatures never were higher than 77°F and included several near record cold readings. The average high for this period was 70.4°F and the average low was 48.0°F. These temperatures are more representative of mid-May rather than the second half of June.

Junes as cold as this past month have been rare in recent Saint Cloud history. In the past 11 years, only June 2000 was cooler than June 2004. Since 1969, June 2004 ranks as the 6th (out of 35) coolest with only the Junes of 1985, 1992, 1993, and 2000 were cooler. In Saint Cloud weather records, June 2004 ranks as the 25th coolest out of 124 years.

So, now what? Beats me! We have returned to the warmer and more humid pattern for the second half of this week, but there still are northwest steering winds in Canada. Currently, the long-range forecast shows a series of cold fronts pushing southward from the weekend into the first half of next week. While they do show a major potential warm-up after that, the track record of these forecasts have been poor. In addition, the trend this week has been to try and make it warm up, but the weekend forecasts have been getting cooler every day, so I tend to believe the cooler forecasts.

    June 2004 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
June 2004
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
73.5
77.3
Average Low Temperature (°F)
52.4
52.9
Mean Temperature for June (°F)
63.0
65.1
June Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for June 2004 (°F)
96 (broke record; see below)
June 7th
Coldest High Temperature for June 2004 (°F)
55
June 1st
Warmest Low Temperature for June 2004 (°F)
68
June 7th
Coldest Low Temperature for June 2004 (°F)
42
June 19th
Record Temperatures in June 2004
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Warm High
96
June 7th
94 set in 1988
Daily Record Warm Average Temperature
82
June 7th
80 set in 1959
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
June 2004 Days with High Temperatures >= 90°F
1
2.16
June 2004 Days with Low Temperatures >= 70°F
0
0.40
June 2004 Days with Low Temperatures >= 75°F
0
0.11
Precipitation (in)
June 2004
Normal
June 2004 Precipitation (in)
3.63
4.51
June Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in June 2004
0.91
June 9th
Record Precipitation in June 2004
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
No Daily Precipitation Records Set
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
June 2004 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
11
10.9
June 2004 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
8
7.3
June 2004 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
5
5.1
June 2004 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
3
2.9
June 2004 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
1.2
12 Wettest Months in Saint Cloud Recorded History
(1893-current)
Rank
Precipitation
Month
1
12.81 IN
July 1897
2
10.72 IN
Sept 1926
3
10.56 IN
June 1920
4
10.53 IN
July 1903
5
10.52 IN
June 1990
6
9.68 IN
May 1912
7
9.52 IN
June 1983
8
9.49 IN
July 1913
9
9.48 IN
Sept 1985
10
9.34 IN
June 1953
11
9.28 IN
August 1900
12
9.08 IN
June 1952
May 16-June 16, 2004
9.72 IN

 

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu