National Weather Service Huntsville, AL -- June 2012 Climate Summary

June Climate Summary for Huntsville and Muscle Shoals

Temperatures...

June was a tale of two months. What started out as a relatively cool first month of summer, ended quite hot, with record setting highs on the last few days. Despite the cool start to the month, including daily temperatures which were about 10 degrees below normal, the hot temperatures at the end of the month were enough to bring the monthly average above normal. At Huntsville, the month finished 0.6 degrees above normal, while temperatures at Muscle Shoals finished at 0.8 degrees above normal. Every month this year, and since November of last year has finished above the climatological normal, so June continues the trend. As stated above, June started quite cool, with highs mostly in the low to mid 70s and lows in the 50s on the first day of the month. Temperatures then warmed but stayed mostly near to below normal during the first two weeks. Temperatures did not reach 90 degrees until the 13th at Huntsville, and the 14th at Muscle Shoals. Then, the gradual warmup began, but one that culminated in daily record highs, and the hottest temperatures observed in the area since the 1950s at Huntsville and the 1930s at Muscle Shoals. The temperature first reached 100 degrees at Muscle Shoals on the 23rd and at Huntsville on the 24th. A cold front brought slightly cooler temperatures on the 26th and 27th with highs in the 90s (although touching 100 degrees at the Shoals on the 27th). But, the last few days finished quite hot with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees. The afternoon high reached 106 degrees at Huntsville on the 29th, which was the hottest temperature of the month. Amazingly, this did not set a new record for the date though, which is 108 degrees set in 1931. However, the 105 degree temperature on the 30th did set a new record for the date. At Muscle Shoals, the highs of 105, 107 and 107 on the 28th, 29th and 30th, respectively, were enough to set new record highs for each day. The 107 degree temperatures, although enough for new daily record highs, were just one degree shy of the June monthly and all-time record highs for Muscle Shoals, 108 degrees, which was set on six occasions in the historical record: June 26th, 1914, July 13th, 28th, and 29th, 1930, August 8th, 1930, and September 8th, 1925.

Annual update: for the first half of 2012, temperatures are averaging well above normal. In fact, to date, it is the warmest year on record at Huntsville and Muscle Shoals. Here are the top 5 warmest January - June periods at both locations:

Huntsville

Muscle Shoals

Rank	Avg Temperature	Year	Rank	Avg Temperature	Year
1	62.7	2012	1	62.7	2012
2	60.9	1925	2	60.7	1938
3	60.4	1927	3	60.5	1953
4	60.1	1922	4	60.4	1998
5	60.0	1952 & 1953	5	60.3	2006

Daily Temperature Graphs for the month of June for each location (click on the images for a larger version).

Huntsville - June 2012 Temperature Graph	Muscle Shoals - June 2012 Temperature Graph

Temperature Statistics for the Month of June at Huntsville and Muscle Shoals. All temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit.

June Statistics	Huntsville	Muscle Shoals
Average Monthly Temperature	78.3	77.8
Normal Temperature*	77.7	76.9
Deviation From Normal	0.6 Above Normal	0.9 Above Normal
Monthly Ranking**	21st Warmest	39th Warmest
Warmest June	83.0 (1952)	83.5 (1952)
Coolest June	70.5 (1974)	70.5 (1903)
Max Temperature (June 2012)	106 degrees on the 29th	107 on the 29th and 30th
Min Temperature (June 2012)	52 degrees on the 2nd	52 degrees on the 2nd
All-Time Max Temperature	108 (June 29, 1931)	108 (June 26, 1914)
All-Time Min Temperature	42 (June 3, 1956)	42 (June 1, 1894)
Record Highs (June 2012)	105 on the 29th	105 on the 28th 107 on the 29th 107 on the 30th
Record Lows (June 2012)	None	None

Precipitation...

Precipitation was below normal for most areas for the month, although as the graphics show below, some locations in northeastern Alabama actually received above normal precpitation. As eluded in the temperature section above, however, June 2012 seemed to have two distinct parts; the first half relatively cool with occasional showers and storms, and the second half hot and very dry. In fact, very little precipitation fell across the area during the last half of the month. The last precipitation received at Huntsville and Muslce Shoals during the month occurred on the 11th. Due to the lack of precipitation and above normal temperatures, drought conditions had reemerged across much of northwestern and north central Alabama by the end of the month.

Radar Precipitation Estimates and Departures from Normal for the Month of June for the Huntsville Forecast Area (amounts are in units of inches).

Radar Precipitation Estimates	Radar Precipitation Departures from Normal

June Precipitation Statistics for Huntsville and Muscle Shoals (amounts are in units of inches).

June Statistics	Huntsville	Muscle Shoals
Monthly Precipitation	1.43	1.51
Normal Precipitation	4.29	4.76
Departure from Normal	2.86 Below Normal	3.25 Below Normal
Monthly Ranking	15th Driest	11th Driest
Wettest June	14.99 (1989)	13.43 (1989)
Driest June	0.17 (1988)	0.43 (1944)
Wettest Calendar Day (June 2012)	0.42 (June 4th)	0.90 (May 29th)
Record Wettest Day	4.46 (June 14, 1969)	5.60 (June 12, 1992)

The Monthly Outlook for July from the Climate Prediction Center...

The one month temperature outlook indicates much higher chances for above normal temperatures for the central Tennessee Valley climatic zones, based on the 3-tiered categories. The probabilities are as follows...

Above Normal....~55%
Near Normal......33%
Below Normal......~12%

The one month precipitation outlook indicates equal chances for above, near or below normal precipitation for the central Tennessee Valley climatic zones, based on the 3-tiered categories. The probabilities are as follows...

Above Normal....33%
Near Normal......34%
Below Normal....33%

What is normal for July? ...Huntsville daily normals and records / Muscle Shoals daily normals and records

* Normal temperatures and precipitation are based on the 1981-2010 climatological period. All temperature data are expressed in degrees Fahrenheit.

** Temperature data for Huntsville go back to 1907, while precipitation data are available since 1894. Any months that contain missing daily temperature or precipitation data are not counted in the rankings.

*** Temperature and precipitation data for Muscle Shoals go back to 1893, however sporadic outages of data occur especially in the 1910s and again from September 1995 through May 1997. Any months that contain missing daily temperature or precipitation data are not counted in the rankings.

Note...all data above are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified data can be accessed at the NCDC at the following location...
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov

One month and seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks may be obtained from the Climate Prediction Center at the following location...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

KDW

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office