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DATE: 3 July 2001 SUBJECT: No, that's not a misprint-it was warmer and drier than normal
Despite a perception that the summer is off to a cool and wet start,
June 2001 in Saint Cloud ended up being both warmer and drier than normal.
According to the official readings at the Saint Cloud Municipal Airport,
June finished more than a degree and a half above normal and contained
three highs of 90 or better, which was also slightly above average. However,
we did have 15 days with below normal high temperatures, including the
first 7 days of the month. This accounted for the average high temperature
being only about normal. The average low temperature was more than two
degrees above normal, due to the early month rains and the late month humidity.
St. Cloud also had its hottest June 25th on record as both the daily mean
temperature and the low temperature broke records on the warm side.
The perception of a rainy month was also dashed as the Saint Cloud
Airport received 3.01 inches of rain, more than an inch and a half below
normal. Part of the reason for below normal rainfall was the drying trend
during last 10 days (measurable rainfall was recorded for 15 of the first
21 days of June, but only 2 days of the last 9 days). Part of the reason
was also the tendency for thunderstorms to hit the Saint Cloud Airport
with only a glancing blow. While the airport only picked up 3.01 inches
of rain, the rain gauge at Saint Cloud State University recorded 4.05 inches.
Thunderstorms also showed a tendency to miss St. Cloud entirely, most notably
during the week of June 12-18, when between 3 and 6 inches fell just to
our north from Fergus Falls across Todd and Morrison Counties to Sandstone
and Moose Lake. This period also included the tornadoes which hit Benson
and Brainerd, and major straight line wind damage and hail as close to
us as Foley, Little Falls, and Ogilvie. Meanwhile, Saint Cloud did get
rain on 6 of the 7 days that week, but only picked up .50 inch of rain
as the brunt of the storms missed the airport.
Actually, there was a month of cool and wet weather in Saint Cloud;
it just didn't work out on the calendar. From May 16 through June 15, the
average temperature was only 57.7 degrees, nearly three degrees below normal.
During this "month," rain was recorded on 21 of the 31 days, including
two streaks of 8 consecutive days with rain (May 19-26 and June 8-15).
The rainfall totaled 5.39 inches, more than an inch and a half above normal
for the period.
Despite the below normal rainfall total for the month, the growing season rainfall (1 April-30 June) now totals more than fifteen and a half inches, nearly 5.5 inches above normal. JUNE STATISTICS JUNE 2001 NORMAL
PRECIPITATION (IN) JUNE 2001 NORMAL
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