June 2022 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Over last 10 days of June, central Minnesota has had a stunning reversal. Through the first 19 days of June, St. Cloud had only picked up 0.15 inch of rain, 2.34 inches below average. This had somewhat reversed the trend since May, as brown grass popped up where there wasn't daily watering. However, around the two hot periods around June 20 and again June 23-26, substantial rain fell both times. The rainfall concentrated in central Minnesota, thanks to the repeated thunderstorms over much of Crow Wing, Morrison, eastern Stearns, and Benton Counties. These areas picked up over 8 inches of rain (more than 4 inches in a band from Cushing to Crow Wing County ending June 21; more than 4 inches of rain in eastern Stearns, western Benton, and much of Morrison Counties ending June 28). There was no official reading in the heaviest rain areas, but an observer near Cushing had the 11 inch rain gauge overflow. The later rainfall on June 23 and 24 was localized as thunderstorms developed in Crow Wing County, moved eastward, and were replaced by new storms over a 6 hour period. The lines of storms only slowly drifted southeastward, so eastern Stearns and western Benton County got into the heaviest rainfall, but areas of central Stearns County and much of western Morrison County didn't get much of anything. The northeast side of Sartell picked up 7.11 inches. While St. Cloud Regional Airport "only received" 4.28 inches of rain (June 23-25), 3.82 inches fell in that 6 hours on June 23 and 24. That ranks as the 11th heaviest single storm rainfall in St. Cloud records, beating the May 11-12 deluge of 3.64 inches by 0.18 inch. At St. Cloud State University, I measured 4.44 inches on the morning of June 24. Since 1991 (when I began measuring precipitation at SCSU), this was the second highest single storm rainfall event, only topped by the 4.48 inches in September 2002.

The June total rainfall at the St. Cloud Regional Airport was 5.44 inches, 1.69 inches above average. The calendar day total on the record-breaking 24th was 3.03 inches, the second 3 inch rainfall in two months. Only one of these days, June 24, had over 3 inches on one calendar day. That's the 22nd day with at least 3 inches of rain in St. Cloud history. There have been only 6 such days since 1985.

The April-June rainfall totaled 16.31 inches, the 8th wettest April-June of the 130 years on record. The last April-June that was wetter was 2014 (18.82 inches, which is the highest total). For the year, St. Cloud has seen 19.19 inches of precipitation, 6.07 inches above average, which is the 10th highest first half of the year total on record.

Needed High Humidity to Generate That Kind of Rain

June 2022 was the 16th warmest June since 1893 at the St. Cloud Regional Airport. The average temperature was 69.3 degrees, 3.3 degrees above average, but cooler than each of the past two Junes (June 2020: 70.2 degrees, 13th warmest; June 2021: 71.4 degrees, tied for 5th warmest). There were only 4 days with a high of at least 90 degrees, instead of the 8 days seen last year, including the earliest heat wave in St. Cloud records with seven straight 90 degree highs from June 4-10. However, this year's 90 degree highs were notable, with a record high of 95 degrees on June 14, and a 101 degree high on June 20. The June 20 high above 100 degrees was the first St. Cloud high of at least 100 degrees since June 7, 2011, and was only the 60th 100-degree high in St. Cloud records. Only 10 of these highs have been recorded since 1950. Combined with the 99 degree high on June 19, there have only been 21 highs of 97 degrees or higher since the last major heat wave and drought of 1988. Very few of the summers since 1990 have been much warmer than average.

All of the moisture from the rains, when they resumed in mid-June, was enough to keep the dew points relatively high. There were 11 lows of 60 degrees or warmer (a 60-degree dew point is usually the reading that has Minnesotans complaining that the humidity is "comfortable"; see table below). There were 3 lows of 70 degrees or warmer, each of which either set or tied records. The 3 70-degree lows were as many or more than were recorded between 2014 and 2020. That led to an average low of 57.0 degrees.

    June 2022 Statistics

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Last Updated: July 8, 2022