A Statistical Preview of Denver's June Weather

...A STATISTICAL PREVIEW OF DENVER’S JUNE WEATHER...

 

JUNE IN DENVER IS A MONTH WHICH RESTS BETWEEN THE COOL RAINS OF MAY AND THE WARM ONSET OF THE SECONDARY WET SEASON KNOWN AS THE NORTH AMERICAN MONSOON. JUNE IN DENVER, ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE FRONT RANGE AND EASTERN PLAINS, IS A MONTH WHICH CAN RECEIVE THE MOST INTENSE SEVERE WEATHER OF THE YEAR AND USUALLY COMES IN THE FORM OF LARGE HAIL. LOW LEVEL GULF MOISTURE OFTEN FINDS IT'S WAY INTO EASTERN COLORADO ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES LOW-LEVEL JET. THE WEAKEST OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES IN WEST TO NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT, RIDING OVER THE MOISTURE AT THE LOW LEVELS, CAN IGNITE AN AFTERNOON AND EVENING OF SEVERE WEATHER RANGING FROM HEAVY RAIN TO TENNIS BALL SIZED HAIL TO TORNADOS.

 

WITH DENVER'S ANNUAL NORMAL TEMPERATURES PEAKING IN LATE JULY, A STEADY TREND OF WARMING TEMPERATURES THROUGH LATE JUNE NORMALLY OCCURS. DENVER`S MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR JUNE IS 67.4 DEGREES (1981-2010 AVERAGES) AND IS DENVER`S 3RD WARMEST MONTH OF THE YEAR BEHIND JULY AND AUGUST RESPECTIVELY. JUNE STARTS THE MONTH WITH A NORMAL HIGH OF 77 DEGREES AND ENDS WITH A NORMAL HIGH OF 87 DEGREES. FOR LOW TEMPERATURES, THE MONTH BEGINS WITH A NORMAL OF 48 DEGREES AND FINISHES WITH A NORMAL OF 56.

 

THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE, SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1872, WAS A VERY RECENT 105 DEGREES ON BOTH 25TH AND 26 TH DAY OF 2012. JUNE'S COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN DENVER WAS 30 DEGREES AND OCCURRED ON THE 2ND DAY OF 1951.

 

JUNE: DENVER`S WARMEST (MEAN TEMPERATURES):

 

75.0 DEGREES 2012

73.5         1994

73.4         1956

72.8         2006

72.8         1933

72.6         1990

72.0         1952

72.0         1881

71.9         1980

71.9         1977

 

JUNE: DENVER`S COLDEST (MEAN TEMPERATURES):

 

60.6 DEGREES 1967

60.9         1951

61.0         1928

61.5         1969

61.5         1904

61.7         1895

62.0         1945

62.1         2003

62.1         1915

62.2         1995

 

SNOW IS VERY RARE IN JUNE, BUT NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR THE MILE HIGH CITY AS THE LAST OF THE COLD SEASON TROUGHS OF LOW PRESSURE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONTS CLIP THE NORTHERN SECTION OF THE STATE. SNOW HAS OCCURRED ONLY 7 TIMES IN DENVER SINCE 1882 WITH THE LAST OCCURRENCE IN 1974 WITH A TRACE.

 

JUNE: DENVER`S SNOWIEST

 

 0.5 INCHES 1953

 0.4        1919

 0.3        1951

  T         1917, 1937, 1947 1974

 

WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER IN FULL FORCE DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE, RAINFALL TOTALS FROM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE THE MEASURE OF INTEREST. WITH JUNE BRACKETED BY THE WETTEST MONTHS OF MAY AND JULY, DENVER'S 10TH WETTEST MONTH IN HISTORY OCCURRED IN JUNE, 1882. THE 4TH HIGHEST 24 HOUR PRECIPITATION TOTAL IN DENVER HISTORY HOWEVER, OCCURRED ON JUNE 11TH, 1970 AS 3.16 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. THIS WAS BEHIND THE TOP 3 OF 6.50 INCHES ON MAY 22ND OF 1876, 3.27 INCHES ON MAY 6TH OF 1973 AND 3.25 INCHES APRIL 13TH, 1967.

 

JUNE: DENVER`S WETTEST

 

4.96 INCHES 1882

4.86        2009

4.69        1967

4.14        1965

3.99        2005

3.95        2003

3.95        1949

3.83        1970

3.59        1963

3.55        1923

 

JUNE: DENVER`S DRIEST

 

  T  INCHES 1890

0.08        1916

0.09        1980

0.09        1881

0.12        2006

0.12        1952

0.13        1893

0.16        1933

0.17        1930

0.19        1922

 

                    ...THE OUTLOOK FOR JUNE 2015...

 

WITH DENVER AND THE FRONT RANGE RECEIVING WELL ABOVE NORMAL, AND SOME CASES RECORD SETTING PRECIPITATION FOR MAY, JUNE LOOKS TO HAVE AN ABOVE NORMAL BIAS AS WELL. AS WE LOOK TOWARD THE MONTH WHICH BRINGS ON THE SUMMER HEAT IN COLORADO, THE MID TO LONG RANGE FORECAST MODELS INDICATE A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN OF WEAK RIDGES AND TROUGHS WITH THE GULF OPEN TO THE HIGH PLAINS STATES. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER'S ONE MONTH OUTLOOK FOR THE REGION CALLS FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. FOR PRECIPITATION, A BIAS TOWARD A HIGHER CHANCE FOR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

 

                       ...JUNE STATISTICS...

 

...TEMPERATURES (1981-2010 NORMALS)...

 

AVERAGE HIGH...........................  82.4

AVERAGE LOW............................  52.3

MONTHLY MEAN...........................  67.4

DAYS WITH HIGH 90 OR ABOVE.............   8 (7.9)

DAYS WITH HIGH 32 OR BELOW.............   0 (0.0)

DAYS WITH LOW 32 OR BELOW..............   0 (<0.1)

DAYS WITH LOWS ZERO OR BELOW...........   0 (0.0)

 

...PRECIPITATION...

 

MONTHLY MEAN...........................   1.98 INCHES

DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION.....   8  (8.4)

AVERAGE SNOWFALL........................  0.0 INCHES

 

...MISCELLANEOUS JUNE AVERAGES...

 

HEATING DEGREE DAYS....................  133

COOLING DEGREE DAYS....................   62

WIND SPEED (MPH).......................    8.9*

WIND DIRECTION.........................  SOUTH*

DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS................   10* (9.9)

DAYS WITH DENSE FOG....................    0* (<0.4)

PERCENT OF SUNSHINE....................   70*

(NOTE: SUNSHINE DATA ARE NO LONGER COLLECTED AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2009)

 

* = 1971-2002 NORMALS

 

...JUNE EXTREMES...

 

RECORD HIGH............................ 104 DEGREES ON 6/26/1994

RECORD LOW.............................  30 DEGREES ON 6/2/1951

WARMEST................................  73.5 DEGREES IN 1994

MAXIMUM COOLING DEGREE DAYS............ 263 IN 1994

MINIMUM COOLING DEGREE DAYS............  28 IN 2003

COLDEST................................  60.6 DEGREES IN 1967

MAXIMUM HEATING DEGREE DAYS............ 164 IN 1951

MINIMUM HEATING DEGREE DAYS............   0 IN 1952, 1956 & 1977

WETTEST................................   4.96 INCHES IN 1882

DRIEST.................................   T IN 1890

 

WFO BOULDER