Typical Summer

What to Watch in Summer ⭐

• Summer is not as volatile as the other seasons, but has it's own unique threats

• Heat is the most notable; slow-moving weather systems can result in days of high pressure and clear skies that raise temperatures

• When measuring the danger of heat, multiple hot days combined with nights that don't offer much relief can be the most deadly

• The heat combined with humidity results in heat index: an apparent temperature felt by anything that sweats because sweating is not working as well as it could be

• Heat in Texas is not the same as heat in Washington, which is why a departures forecast can tell a national story based on local typical weather

• Severe storms still develop in summer and tropical storms can get an early start to the season

• "Warm air holds more water than cold air" is not really true; air doesn't hold anything but evaporation is more likely in warmer temperatures, which leads to clouds then rain, etc

• Warm temperatures can result in higher rainfall amounts and therefore, increased flooding risks

• Fire weather has one unique day during summer when human ignitions are much higher and the day is usually thrown out of statistical analysis: July 4th

Summer Flooding and Storms ⭐

• Houston had some flooding rain recently, which means following Jeff Lindner for updates

• Today's severe storm threat is mostly limited to the Gulf Coast but brief tornadoes could form and rain will be heavy across the South

• A more northerly frontal system brings storms to the northern Plains and Great Lakes later this week

Summer Heat or Not ⭐

• This week, the heat is mostly in the West and Florida

• Next week, the West gets a break and the Plains turns kinda hot

• A few daily record highs are possible for Florida, especially Tampa

• Heat advisories are issued for the central valley of California almost all week with highs approaching 100°

⚡ The noctilucent clouds have been on fire again this year

⚡ The much talked about Saharan dust plume reaches the South this weekend with hazy skies but potentially great sunsets

Un-June

Summer Starts Saturday 🌞

• June 20th 5:44 pm EST (2:44 pm PST) will start astronomical summer this year

• The sun will reach it's highest point in the sky for the northern hemisphere

• Meteorological summer starts June 1 which means the middle of summer is closer to the warmest temperatures and it's a ridge date that doesn't move around

• It is not the earliest sunrise or latest sunset, those vary because of how we count time and the declination of the sun

• It is the longest day in the northern hemisphere!

• timeanddate.com is my favorite way to visualize the day length

• Saturday will have 15 hours and 14 minutes of sun in Portland, 15 hours and 5 minutes in New York City, 14 hours and 36 minutes in Durham, and 14 hours and 23 minutes in Atlanta

Northern Plains Severe Storms ⭐

• The system that brought rain to the Northwest this weekend will bring storms to the Northern Plains today and tomorrow

• A few severe storms could develop with strong winds and some hail

• June starts to lose some of the volatile storminess of spring and fall, though severe storms are still possible

Carolina Soaker ⭐

• The sun does not want to shine in the Carolinas this week

• An upper low stuck over the region will keep rounds of rain moving over the states

• The NHC is highlighting a coastal low that could develop under the upper low but gives it a low chance of becoming tropical in the next five day

• June rain usually comes from isolated storms and not so much from meandering upper lows for days

• The coast is most at risk for flooding that could reach +5" totals

• Temperatures stay much cooler than typical for June

Turning Seasonal ⭐

• The wavy jet stream has caused some unusual temperatures from coast to coast

• The Northwest and northern Rockies stay cool while the Plains heats up

• By the weekend and early next week, temperatures look to turn closer to typical late June

⚡ I'm going to go a little off script and link the online background noises website. It is a nice way to get to work or take your mind off your surroundings. My favorite is coastal wind with a little ocean waves mixed in. You can change the strength of each sound and combine sounds.

They call it June-uary

June-uary ⭐

• An upper-low is planted off the West coast

• The results are widespread cloud cover and rounds of showers this week in the Northwest and into northern California, especially by the coast

• Temperatures stay cool and the late rainy season rain gets named "June-uary"

• But the Northwest is dealing with some drought conditions, Oregon alone is 95% abnormally dry and 81% in some level of drought

• So additional rain like some of us saw this past weekend is welcomed

Great Lakes Severe Storms ⭐⭐

• A strong storm threat has started in Michigan and around the Great Lakes today

• The SPC shows a risk of damaging winds today and at least some threat for tornadoes

• This is part of the extratropical remnants of Cristobal that was shoved north after landfall earlier this week

• Storms will be moving pretty quickly, 50+ mph forward speeds

• An isolated severe storm risk continues tomorrow on the East Coast but should be limited

A Wave of Heat ⭐

• Ridging builds in the middle of the country and warmer temperatures come with it

• Warm highs move from the West to the Plains this week and into next week

• Significant fire potential will stay above average in the Southwest

⚡ In space weather, our mesosphere is coming in cold and noctilucent clouds are visible farther south as a result

⚡ Nasa has a hurricane blog to follow