JUNE 2003 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS FOR NEW MEXICO

June 2003 was a stormy month with numerous reports of severe weather mainly over the eastern half of New Mexico.  As a result, much of the east received above normal rainfall, while the west was generally drier than normal.  Temperatures were near normal statewide.  

June started off with a bang as thunderstorms rumbled over much of the state the first five days of the month.  Northwest flow aloft brought upper level disturbances across the area and low level moisture remained high especially over the east.  Strong winds were reported from thunderstorm outflows on the 1st from Roswell to Portales on south.  Severe thunderstorms erupted on the 2nd and 3rd across northeast New Mexico with hail the main weather story.  The most widespread severe weather outbreak was on the 4th with large hail and a couple of tornadoes over eastern New Mexico.  Isolated severe storms affected the east once again on the 5th.  The strength and coverage of thunderstorms diminished from the 6th through 11th as the flow aloft turned from the northwest to a drier west and southwest direction.  High pressure aloft developed again to our west on the 12th with northwest flow returning once again.  This allowed weak disturbances aloft and their associated surface fronts to move into the northeast once again, resulting in yet more severe weather for the Land of Enchantment.  Isolated severe storms delivered hail to the northeast on the 12th, with a more widespread outbreak of severe weather across the east on the 13th.  Strong thunderstorms rumbled across the east on the 14th and 15th.  With high pressure anchored aloft over the four corners area from the 16th through 18th, and plenty of low level moisture lingering over the eastern plains, slow moving thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall over mainly the east during this time. A storm off the California coast on the 18th moved inland on the 19th and crossed New Mexico on the 20th.  This system brought breezy to windy conditions to the state and began to scour out some of the low level moisture.  However, enough moisture remained to fuel thunderstorms over the east, including isolated severe weather during the afternoon and evening of the 20th. Mostly dry weather was recorded over the state from the 21st through 25th.  A strong cold front for early summer moved into the northeast on the 25th, and the remainder of the plains on the 26th.  Much cooler temperatures were recorded over the east but little in the way of precipitation.  Enough moisture along the front did spark a few thunderstorms during the early morning hours of the 26th, and lingering moisture behind the front triggered isolated strong to severe thunderstorms in the south and northeast on the 27th.  High pressure aloft strengthened over the state at the end of the month, but yet another cold front pressed south across the eastern plains on the 29th, setting off another round of thunderstorms.     

Severe Weather Strikes New Mexico From the 1st - 5th 

Early June was rather violent across the Land of Enchantment as severe weather was reported during the first six days on the month.  Thunderstorms formed over the eastern plains on the 1st and accelerated south during the evening creating high winds.  Isolated severe thunderstorms with large hail were found in the northeast on the 2nd and 3rd  The radar image above reveals two storms on the evening of the 2nd that were severe just prior to this time, bringing three quarters of an inch diameter hail to Raton and one and a half inch diameter hail to Des Moines.  The severe weather reached a peak on the 4th with a major, long duration (over 7 hours) outbreak of severe weather across the eastern plains.  Reports of large hail began in the northeast around 200pm and continued past 900pm.  A view of the complex of storms is shown above and to the right from an infrared satellite loop during the late afternoon of the 4th. This is known as a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS).  Storms produced hail up to the size of baseballs (2.75 inches) and there were a few reports of tornadoes.  The radar loop to the right shows a severe  thunderstorm that produced nickel to golf ball size hail around Tucumcari during the late afternoon of the 4th.

TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION DATA FOR ALBUQUERQUE - JUNE 2003

Albuquerque daily actual maximum (red bars) and normal maximum (purple line) temperatures - June 2003

The average maximum temperature in Albuquerque during June 2003 was 88.4o, which was 1.8 degrees below the 30 year normal (1971 - 2000) of 90.2o.  The high of 75 on the 18th was a record low maximum for the date.  Only 7 days were above normal, and only 2 of these were after the 5th.

Albuquerque daily actual minimum (blue bars) and normal minimum (purple line) temperatures - June 2003

The average minimum temperature for June 2003 was 61.4o, which was 2.0 degrees above the normal of 59.4o.  This was the 15th month in a row with above normal average minimum temperatures.  In contrast to the maximum temperatures, 24 minimum temperatures were at or above normal. There was 71% of the possible sunshine in June 2003, while normal is 83%.  This increase in the cloud cover can account for much of the below normal daytime temperatures and above normal nighttime temperatures.  Thus the average temperature for the month was 74.9o which was very close (only 0.1 degrees above normal) to the normal of 74.8o.

Albuquerque daily precipitation - June 2003

SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS NEW MEXICO - JUNE 2003