Clouds were slow to break up Wed. so storms were limited. Warmer temps. aloft (less unstable) will mean storms will be more widely scattered Thu.-Fri. & will allow temps. to soar into the low to mid 90s. But where storms occur, they will still be locally very heavy.
Have you noticed some haze in the sky? It appears the haze is a product of African dust all the way from the Saharan Desert. The dust has been more prominent in Southern Florida & appears to be breaking up on satellite photographs, but it still should be a little hazy the next couple days. Such dust plumes are not at all uncommon in the summer & early fall & were especially dense last summer. The dust is often times associated with dry mid & upper level air...can hinder tropical cyclone development...indicate areas where there will be less thunderstorm acitivity (drier air)....& cause a colorful sunset/sunrise. The dust is driven westward by strong high pressure over the North & East Atlantic.
Here are the June weather highlights from NOAA:
NOAA: Warm June for U.S. with Wet and Dry Extremes June 2008 was the 27th warmest June for the contiguous United States, based on records dating back to 1895, according to an analysis by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The average June temperature, 70.4 degrees F, was 1.1 degrees above the 20th century mean, based on preliminary data.
U.S. Temperature Highlights
* June temperatures were warmer than average across the southern and eastern states, and cooler than average across the Northwest and northern Plains.
* New Jersey and Rhode Island ranked second warmest and Delaware ranked third warmest, based on statewide data going back to 1895.
Nine states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and North and South Carolina) were much warmer than average, and 23 were warmer than average.
* Seven states (Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota) were cooler than average.
* Unusually warm June temperatures translated into a higher temperature-related residential energy demand. Based on NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index, contiguous U.S.
temperature-related energy demand was approximately 7.5 percent above average in June.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
* Rainfall patterns across the country in June consisted of both extremely wet and extremely dry conditions. Heavy rain and flooding occurred in the Midwest, while parts of the Southeast, southern Plains, and West were dry.
* Five states (Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and Vermont) were much wetter than average for June, with Iowa ranking second wettest on record.
* Persistent heavy rain across the Midwest triggered flooding along the Cedar River in Iowa, and many tributaries to the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa and southern Wisconsin. Flooding also occurred along the Mississippi River in parts of western Illinois and eastern Missouri. By the end of June, 26 percent of the contiguous U.S. was classified in moderate-to-extreme "wet spell" conditions compared to
24 percent a month ago, based on the Palmer Index.
* Over the past six months, Iowa, Ohio, and Missouri had the wettest January-June on record. Iowa had its wettest April-June period on record with an average of 20.4 inches of precipitation - 8.7 inches above average.
* Five states (California, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas) were much drier than average, with California having the fourth driest June on record and North Carolina ranking eighth driest.
* Continued lack of rainfall across much of the Southeast and parts of the southern Plains and West worsened drought conditions.
Twenty-eight percent of the contiguous U.S. was classified in moderate-to-exceptional drought at the end of June, compared to 22 percent a month ago, based on the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Western Wildfires
* By the end of June, many large wildfires were raging in northern California and Arizona, largely due to lightning strikes. As of June 30, more than 2.1 million acres have burned so far this year in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Already, January - June 2008 ranks third behind the same periods for 2006 and 2002 in the amount of burnt acreage.
