Hot, Dry June In Vermont, But Brief Cool, Wet Period To Start July?

Weather dogs Tonks, left, and Jackson, right, parched from
measuring the very dry conditions around their weather
station in St. Albans, Vermont during June, guzzle some
much needed water after their tasks were done. 

June was another very warm, dry month in Vermont, part of a trend that we've seen all year so far.

Temperatures were well above normal statewide during the month, making June, 2021 among the warmest on record. Everybody was dry, too. 

The month ended yesterday with needed rain in a few spots, but not everybody got in on that. There was some severe weather on Wednesday, too.  Additional rain might be on the way to open July, too. More on that in a bit. 

But first, June as a whole: 

Burlington came in with a mean June temperature of 71.8 degrees, making it the third hottest June on record. Only 1895 with 72.7 degrees, and June, 1949, with 71.9 degrees, was toastier. 

We have a new set of "normals" now, which is the average of all the months in years between 1990 and 2020.  These new "normals" are warmer than the old ones, and we were still way on the hot side in June, ranging from three to six degrees above normal.

Burlington sweated through six days in which it was 90 degrees or better, bringing the total for the year to eight such days. That's more than average for an entire year. For those keeping track the most 90 degree days in a single year is 26, so we've got a ways to go.  Gawd knows how July and August will turn out. 

For those who wanted a break from dry weather and drought, June was a real disappointment. Rainfall was well below normal statewide. Burlington only managed 2.36 inches of rain, which is nearly two inches below normal.

So far this year, Burlington has had just 11.71 inches of rain, which is a good five and half inches below normal. 

Elsewhere in the state, Montpelier reported a paltry 1.10 inches of rain during June, which is a full three inches on the light side. Pretty dusty there, I'm sure. 

St. Johnsbury managed 2.38 inches of rain, which is about an inch and a half below normal.  But the bulk of it came in a torrential downpour with a severe thunderstorm on June 21 that dumped 1.51 inches of rain in a short period of time. Since that was so torrential, most of it ran off instead of soaking into the ground. 

The June 21 St. Johnsbury storm was one of two severe weather outbreaks of sorts in Vermont during the month. There were streaks of damage through parts of central and southern parts of the state as rotating supercells roamed the state on June 21.  

Dark clouds approach St. Albans, Vermont last evening,
bringing some much needed rain. But June as a whole was
very dry and very warm, so much more rain is needed. 

This was the southern edge of a tornado outbreak that hit Quebec, causing widespread damage, some injuries and one death. 

 Luckily, there were no tornadoes in Vermont on June 21, but one did touch down in Quebec just 14 miles or so north of Alburgh, so a relatively close miss.

There was scattered storm damage in Vermont on Thursday, too.

One severe thunderstorm in particularly originated in the southern Adirondacks and produced a damage path from there, through Rutland and Windsor counties, then all the way across southern New Hampshire before heading off the coast at the southern tip of Maine. 

Dozens of trees fell around Quechee and hundreds of homes lost power. Jennifer Hannux @VermontJen, documented menacing clouds, strong winds and lots of tree damage around Hartland, Vermont from the storm. 

Many people yesterday missed out on the rain, but a few lucky people got a decent drenching.  Burlington got a third of an inch or so.  At my house in St. Albans, a lingering evening downpour deposited a nice 0.80 inches. That was easily my heaviest rainfall since early May. 

A particularly heavy cell with especially torrential rain  hit a wee bit to my northwest, creating too much of a good thing.  Route 78 in Swanton, a busy truck route, is closed this morning due to a washout there from a very heavy burst of rain. 

THE OUTLOOK

The first few days of July will open in Vermont mercifully cool and wet in a few spots, which is a nice break. Except for those who want hot beach weather on the Fourth of July weekend. 

A low pressure area in the upper atmosphere will keep us mostly cloudy and somewhat refrigerated over the next few days. 

That cold front from last night was struggling southward around Rutland or so early this morning, and will continue crawling toward southern New England. The upper level low will swing into the eastern Great Lakes and then drift northeastward through New England Friday and Saturday.

The combination of that upper low, that old cold front that is sagging into southern New England now, and a new "back door" cold front coming in from the northeast will team up to create quite a few showers in Vermont and surrounding areas.  That will hit mostly on Friday and mostly south of Route 2.  

Some heavy downpours could meander around slowly Friday in central and southern Vermont, so a few areas could pick up some decent amounts. The north appears to be out of luck again with this one, which makes me all the more grateful for last evening's downpours.

It will be quite cool tomorrow and Saturday for early July, but nothing earth-shattering. Still, some places in eastern Vermont could stay in the low 60s for highs tomorrow, which is definitely nippy. Most of us won't crack 70 degrees.

Saturday will only be slightly warmer with scattered showers around, then it will turn summery again by Monday. 

Long range forecasts call for a very warm first half of July around here after we clear out of the sort of dank weather this weekend. Time will tell as always!