MONTHLY SUMMARY: JUNE 1999 UPDATED: 7/21/99 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...Drought Hits Northwestern & Northern Areas Hard... DROUGHT UPDATE FOR THE NORTH Clayton Towers provides this update received 7/21: "Our drought continues, and it's a major one. If July continues dry, and I believe it will, it will make it twelve months in the last thirteen with precipitation below normal. No general rain is in sight for our area. There may be an isolated thunder storm from time to time, but these kind of storms won't do he trick in relieving a drought. There is an effort being made now to declare the Shenandoah Valley a disaster area. I'm sure other areas will be doing the same. Of course the farmers are the ones being hit the hardest. There have reports that some dairy farmers are selling their cows because pasture fields are drying up, and there's a shortage of hay. There won't be much corn for silage. Some wells are drying up, and the rivers and streams are running low. Water for towns and cities is a concern. Water rationing is not in effect for most towns yet. If the dry weather continues, there may be restrictions on the use of water. We had a major drought back in 1977 which hit the Shenandoah Valley pretty hard. Other areas didn't suffer as greatly. This drought lasted for only six to seven months. The drought of 1999 covers a large portion of the eastern United States. It has lasted for twelve and a half months with no end in sight. As in any drought, there are spots around that have received some rain. Bridgewater is one of these places. We have gotten several good showers in July, but not nearly enough. Grass has turned a little bit green again. It won't stay this way long, unless we get some more rain. I have been in Virginia for over fifty years. I don't ever remember a drought this severe." REQUEST FROM ERICA PAGE AND WRC-TV/NBC4 Here's an email from Wxnet4, with whom our Erica Page is affiliated and is preparing a newsletter. Perhaps you'd have time to compose a response and email it to her. Greetings Weather Watchers, We are in the process of putting together a newsletter and are looking for your weather experiences. Here are some questions to consider for your submissions: 1) What sparked your interest in weather? 2) Was it a particular storm event, etc? Please submit your stories to: Erica Page......(WRC-TV Weather Assistant and Fellow Weather Watcher). Email: Windie1970@aol.com *** We hope to have this ready by the end of this summer.*** Erica Also, our northern-most members- and I on occasion - participate in the station's Weather Watcher Observations. It's a lot of fun if you have time and patience with JAVA applications (required for data submission). They accept my data from Southern Virginia but don't know if the brass will stretch it to the Carolinas and Georgia. Won't hurt for you to ask the webmaster through email. Visit at: http://wxnet4.nbc4.com/cgi-bin/wxWatchObs NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Annandale - "June was very dry but other than that it was pretty average. The rainfall deficiency was 1.03". The barometer on the 29th was the highest in June since 1979 when a 30.56" reading was recorded. The 96 reading recorded on the 7th was not unusual for June but unusual to occur so early in the month. First time since 1994 that we had 3 days in June with temps greater than or equal to 95 degrees for the max." - notes from Lowell Arlington - NWS WBC notes THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON THE 7TH REACHED 98 DEGREES, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 97 SET IN 1899. ON THE 8TH THE HIGH TEMP REACHED 98 DEGREES...BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 96 SET IN 1899. EARLY JUNE KEPT ALIVE THE DRIEST STREAK OF OUR LONG TERM DROUGHT. FROM LATE APRIL THROUGH MID JUNE...A 50 DAY STRETCH...WASHINGTON RECEIVED A PALTRY INCH AND A QUARTER OF RAIN /1.28"/ SPREAD OVER ONLY FIVE DAYS. BY MID JUNE THE WEATHER PATTERN RELENTED SOMEWHAT AND THE CITY ENDED UP WITH TWO AND A QUARTER INCHES /2.26"/ FOR THE MONTH SPREAD OVER EIGHT DAYS...NOT A DROUGHT BUSTER BY ANY STRETCH BUT CERTAINLY A SHORT TERM AID TO AGRICULTURE AROUND THE REGION. TEMPERATURES WERE NEAR NORMAL AS A WHOLE FOR THE MONTH. ONE SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENT FOR THE MONTH OCCURRED DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON OF THE 14TH. A THUNDERSTORM MOVING TOWARDS THE CITY FROM NORTHERN VIRGINIA INTENSIFIED IN FAIRFAX COUNTY AND LEFT A PATH OF DOWNED TREES AND POWER OUTAGES FROM ARLINGTON THROUGH THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA INTO EASTERN PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY...THE STRONGEST WIND GUSTS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 75 MILES PER HOUR. Year-to-date rainfall was some 0.89" below normal. Bridgewater - Our drought here in the Shenandoah Valley has become serious, and indications are that it's going to become worse. Dairy farmers are being hit hard, with pasture fields drying up. Lawns around here look terrible. This may be the worst drought since the late 1970's. There were twenty days when the humidity was forty-five per cent or below. There was no precip during the first twelve days of the month, and only .23" for the first sixteen days. Precipitation was two inches below normal, and for the year about 5" below normal. Temperature for the month was 1.5 degrees above normal. Weather for June was quite boring! - notes from Clayton Centreville - According the Paul, rain was only 40% of the normal. His area went from May 25th to June 10th (17 days) without rain until a drought bustin' sprinkles produced a trace of rain. The avg daily temp was 2.5 degrees above the norm. Dulles - Monthly rainfall was 0.92" below normal while the yearly rainfall was below normal at -0.29". The month's average temp was 2/10 degree below the norm. - report from NWS WBC Falls Church - Erica reports that June was an average month in Falls Church for both temps and precip. On the 14th, a violent thunderstorm was noted and ripped through the area. There were reports of a downburst. The storm was one of the worst to hit Falls Church in years and produced over an inch of rain. Fredericksburg - A warm and dry month with several days with clouds but still below average rainfall. The total rainfall, however, was more than that in April and May combined. - notes from Ken Hampton - Dave noted that temps and precip were normal for the month. A new record low max of 68 on the 20th of the month. Herndon - Russ reports: "Although rainfall appears normal for June, it did little to relieve the severe drought in our area. Most of it fell during the 2 thunderstorms that raced quickly through. It had little chance to soak into the baked Virginia clay." Louisa - "June here was warm and dry with only .76" precip measured at my station. There were many times I watched thunderstorms "detour" north or south of here. The local agriculture agent said it was the one of the driest Junes since the early '70s. I didn't dig through all my data to prove him out; I sort of already knew 'cuz I didn't have to put the top up on my MG for inclement weather many times! Spent most of the time 'dusting' it." - notes from Joe Bowers New Market - Joyce sends this: "The area is so dry and the river is nothing but scum. The land is in bad shape." Newport News - Noticeable lack of thunderstorm activity at Gary's site. Only 1 noted for the month and that one passed about 1 mile to the north of his site. Norfolk - NWS AKQ (Wakefield) reported Norfolk Airport's average monthly temperature was 0.2 degree below normal. Precip was 0.23" below normal. The year-to-date rainfall is 1.41" below the norm. The average wind speed here was 9.1 MPH. Portsmouth - The month was cooler than normal or -1.6 degrees while precip was 98% (-0.08") of normal. Meanwhile, the average wind speed was 4.5 MPH from the north-northeast. The records PC program still is going crazy with 14 MORE NEW STATION records set here during June! They are as follows (database since 1976): Date Value Established 8 95 tied max temp 12 70 new min high temp 15 1.17" new daily precip 16 69 new min high temp 16 0.55" new daily precip 17 67 new min high temp 18 70 new min high temp 19 57 new min low temp 20 69 new min high temp 21 70 new min high temp 22 73 new min high temp 28 75 new max low temp 29 77 new max low temp 30 76 new max low temp Year-to-date rainfall was running 4.69" below normal or 79% of the norm. Richmond - The mean temp was 1.6 degrees below normal while precip was 2.67" above normal. The average wind speed was 7.0 MPH. - from NWS Wakefield (AKQ) Mechanicsville - "T-storms on the 13th at 1530 with downpours. Strong t-storm again on the 29th and 30th with sharp lightning, strong winds, and downpours." - notes from Glenn Roanoke - Notes from Wendell: "Dry and normal temperatures described my station for June. Average mean was 7.18, exactly normal. The lack of t-storms is the most notable feature, only 2, while June of 1998 brought 12! Rainfall was 1.71" below normal." Stafford - Danny notes: Drought is well underway, year-to-date precip is now 1.84" below normal; Lots of pre-summer heat, 2 days at 101 and a third at 100 consecutively! End of month characterized by very muggy conditions and sporadic short thunderstorms; June finishes 1.33 degrees above normal temp, 2.33" below normal precip. Vienna - Robert notes June's average temperature was 0.8 degree below the norm. Rainfall was 1.12" below the norm (71.4%). There is still a severe raifall deficiency in Northern VA. A brief heatwave was noted from the 7th to the 9th. Cool morning low in the 19th and Father's Day on the 20th was cloudy, rainy, and cool with a high of only 64. No records were tied or broken during the month. Woodstock - Lauck reports the month saw normal temps and was the 7th warmest in 14 years. The month was the 3rd driest in those years. Crops are burned up and trees are suffering. The tree problem is worsened by a swarm of 17-year cicadas. Rainfall for the year is about normal, thanks to a wet January. Asheville - The average monthly temperature was 0.1 degrees below normal and the precip total was 0.16" above normal. Monthly average wind speed was 4.4 mph. Brevard - Bob's remarks: "June was an all round average June based upon my ten-year experience. The average temperature for the month, 70.38 deg. F, compares with 70.80 for the 10 Junes I have recorded. Rainfall was also average with a recorded 6.53" compared with a 6.55" ten-year average. As a result, the 7.02" deficit rainfall for 1999 through May has remained essentially unchanged." Charlotte - NWS GSP reported the monthly average temp was 2.4 degrees below normal while total precip was 0.63" above normal. The average wind speed was 5.7 MPH. Greensboro - The average temp for the month was 0.3 degree below normal while precip was 0.45" above normal. NO RECORD HIGHS OR LOWS WERE BROKEN IN THE MONTH OF JUNE. HOWEVER A RECORD LOW OF 52 DEGREES WAS TIED ON THE 19TH. THE ONE DAY TOTAL PRECIPITATION ON THE 30TH, 1.87", WAS THE HIGHEST ONE DAY TOTAL SINCE AUGUST 8, 1998, WHEN 3.18" FELL. Raleigh - Bob reports that June was noteworthy for two extremes... from the 1st to the 12th, hot and dry weather was the rule... the remainder of the month was cool, wet, and cloudy. In fact, 8 days had a max temp lower than 80 degrees. Overall, temps were slightly below normal and precip was below normal. 6 days were overcast the entire day! Bob's correct URL for his Internet site is: http://www.qsl.net/kf4mmm Raleigh - The average temp for the month was 0.1 degree above normal while rainfall was 2.52" below normal. The official monthly summary added: JUNE WAS ANOTHER DRY MONTH FOR THE TRIANGLE AREA. THE AIRPORT RAINFALL FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS IS 5.86" BELOW NORMAL, OR 77%. THE HIGH FOR THE MONTH OF 100 WAS A NEW RECORD AND THE EARLIEST OCCURRENCE FOR THE CENTURY MARK EVER. A RECORD HIGH WAS ALSO TIED ON THE 9TH, 98 DEGREES. Roxboro - Merriell reports the month was dry with only about 1/3 normal rain. A wide variation of temperature ranges but the temps averaged near normal. Most of the precip fell in the second half of the month. Wilmington - Excerpts from NWS ILM's summary: ...A WARM AND DRY JUNE IN THE PORT CITY... WILMINGTON TEMPERATURES WERE AGAIN A BIT ABOVE NORMAL IN JUNE. THE MONTHLY AVERAGE WAS 0.7 DEGREE TOO WARM. THE ONLY TEMP RECORD SET WAS A COOL HIGH ON THE 19TH WHEN THE TEMP ONLY REACHED 71 DEGREES (THE OLD RECORD WAS 73 IN 1879). OUTSIDE OF A WEEK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH... RAIN WAS NEARLY NON- EXISTENT IN JUNE. THE MONTHLY TOTAL WAS 2.07 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. ALL BUT 0.42 INCH CAME BETWEEN THE 15TH AND 20TH. NO PRECIP RECORDS WERE BROKEN OR TIED IN JUNE. THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED FOR JUNE WAS 7.9 MPH. Columbia - The average temperature for the month was 0.6 degree below normal while rainfall was 0.17" below normal. - from NWS CAE Charleston - Charleston's temperatures ran nearly 1.9 degrees below normal while precip was a whopping 4.11" BELOW normal! The average wind speed at CHS was 7.9 MPH. Year-to-date precip is 5.91" below normal. Eleanor adds the these reports, the first about local flooding on 6/29 followed by a comparison of the Junes of 1998 and 1999. (Editor's note: thanks for the extra, informative work Eleanor!) Rains Return in a Big Way! Many sections of the Lowcountry and the Coastal Empire of Georgia have had near drought conditions for the last several months (from February to June) as high pressure has dominated the area, not allowing for springtime storm systems to bring normal rainfall as well as the usual development of summertime thunderstorms. On June 29th, the rains return in a very big way over some areas. An area of showers and thunderstorms developed along and just off the coast from southern Charleston county to Bryan county Georgia. Multiple convergence zones focused on extreme southern South Carolina into southeastern Georgia during the mid morning through afternoon. Extremely heavy rainfall occurred in a short period of time across that region. Severe flooding was reported in the Beaufort and Savannah areas as well as other sections of Beaufort, Jasper and Chatham counties. A state of emergency was declared in Chatham county, including Savannah, through the 30th, to assist with the cleanup. The malls in Savannah were hit badly as well and were closed as cars floated by in the parking lots. A cooperative observer in Hardeeville (southern Jasper county of South Carolina) reported a total of 15 inches of rain in about 12 hours. By 2 PM on the 29th, 11.4 inches had fallen at DeRenne Station in Savannah, while other parts of the city only received two to three inches. Beaufort reported a total of 11" in two days (28-29), which included 7.5" in 12 hours on the 29th. Savannah Airport received about 10" from June 26th to July 1st, including 6.6" which occurred on the 29th. According to Doppler radar estimates, some areas around southern Jasper and Beaufort counties received from 20-25" of rain between June 26th and July 1st. For more information about the flooding event, the Savannah Morning News has a special section on their Internet web site called Savannah Now Underwater. The address is: http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/features/flood A Comparison of Junes in Charleston Many folks around the greater Charleston area have commented about how much "cooler" it felt this June as compared to June last year. Looking at the statistics from Charleston International Airport bears this out. The average high temperature in June 1998 was a sweltering 93.2ø. This past June, however, was a full 8 degrees cooler for the highs (85.2ø). Overnight lows were also warm last June, with the average 72.4ø, while June 1999 recorded an average of 67.6ø. What was astonishing about June 1998 was the relentless heat combined with high humidities that sent heat indices soaring past 110ø for several days. A total of 24 days had high temperatures of 90ø or better in 1998. One of those days hit the century mark (30th). There was a stretch from June 12th to the 30th where highs were 90ø or better. There were only six days in 1999 that temperatures reached 90ø or better, with the highest reading for the month at 91ø on three days. Also, record highs were either tied or broken on three days in June 1998 99ø on the 28th and 29th (tied records set in 1978 and 1936, respectively), with the 100ø on the 30th setting a record for the date (previous 99ø set in 1936). No records were set in June 1999. Both Junes were dry, with precipitation totals falling well below the normal of 6.43". Here are the statistics for the last two Junes in Charleston: June 1999 June 1998 Avg. High 85.2ø Avg. High 93.2ø Avg. Low 67.6ø Avg. Low 72.4ø Monthly Avg. 76.4ø Monthly Avg. 82.8ø Depart. from norm -1.9ø Depart. from norm +4.5ø Monthly High 91ø (3 days) Monthly High 100ø (30) Monthly Low 60ø (1) Monthly Low 53ø (8) Precip. 2.32" Precip. 3.41" Depart. from norm -4.11" Depart. from norm -3.02" Greenville-Spartanburg - NWS GSP noted the average monthly temp was 0.9 degree below normal while rainfall was 0.10" below normal. The average wind speed was 6.7 MPH. Ruby - A bit more rain noted by Franklin for the month compared to last month. Temps were a bit warmer too. Tri-cities - NWS KnoxvilleTri-cities, TN reports that the Tri-cities/Bristol area recorded monthly average temps 1.1 degree above normal with precipitation some 0.76" above normal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@citcom.net BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter wtrotter@whro.org RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@digizen.net WSH David Yowell runamok@runamok.com FCH Erica Page ERICA96661@aol.com RMD Roy Britt rbritt@erols.com NEW Joyce Winfree joywood@shentel.net FRB Ken McKneely mckneelys@email.msn.com STF Danny Jessee doppler2k3@hotmail.com WOO Lauck Walton jwalton@shentel.net NPN Gary Leonard garleonard@aol.com LKU Joe Bowers jmbiii@mnsinc.com CHS Eleanor Vallier-Talbot Eleanor.Vallier-Talbot@noaa.gov evaltal@wpmedia.com HAM Dave Kessell tccdkessel@yahoo.com VNA Robert Boott boottr@vrinet.com CHW Dave Lesher wxdave@boo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------------