June Observations and Discussion

[Clinton]

I picked up .29in lastnight not much but at least it broke the ice. Very refreshing this morning the temp is 65 and the dew point is down to 53. Light showers are also possible this morning.

[Tom]

Are we about to witness a reversal in the drought???  The models are mostly in the same camp that the majority of our Sub will be divided...the 0z EPS is showing an extensive part of the eastern/southern Sub to finish off the month loaded with moisture.  Shall this continue into July??  I believe so...personally, I don't see "July to Fry" this year for my area unless you live in the Plains/Upper MW.  That ridge is going to mean business in the west.

 

 

[Minny_Weather]

Hector Field received 1.07" yesterday. I got less, I'd say around 0.9". The rain is appreciated, but we're still 3.5" below normal year to date.

 

Current temp is 49°F.

[bud2380]

I received no measurable precipitation last night. My daily total was .14”. Obviously that was no help at all with the dry conditions here. 

[westMJim]

First off I am glad that no was was hurt in last nights storms to the south of GR. Now as for here at my house. While there was some rain here only 0.25" fell at my house. The storms were to the south of here and while there was some lightning off to the south there was not really a "storm" here. There was more rain at the airport as they reported at least 0.62" Muskegon only 0.06" Holland 0.26" Ionia 0.32" Kalamazoo 1.05" and to the east at Lansing 0.58. The overnight low here was 65 and at this time with cloudy skies it its 67.

[westMJim]

The temperature has now dropped down to 62 with cloudy skies. No matter what happens the rest of today the high will be at least 69. But that said if it stays below 69 the rest of today it will be one of the rare summer days when the high for the day was before sunrise. We have had several such days this past spring while common in the winter season this would be rare to happen in June.

[westMJim]

This from the Grand Rapids NWS office.
  
"WHILE WE DO NOT EXPECT A WIDESPREAD FROST OR FREEZE TONIGHT IT  
SEEMS LIKELY THERE WILL BE PATCHY FROST OVER OUR NORTHERN FEW ROWS  
OF COUNTIES, INLAND OF LAKE MICHIGAN. THE CENTER OF THE SURFACE  
HIGH STAYS WELL SOUTH OF MICHIGAN THE CORE OF THE POLAR JET IS  
SOUTH OF MICHIGAN TONIGHT, THOSE TO FEATURES WOULD SUGGEST SOME  
MIXING WILL STILL HAPPEN TONIGHT PREVENT TEMPERATURES FROM FALLING  
AS MUCH AS THEY WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE DONE. ON THE OTHER HAND THERE  
IS ENOUGH DRY AIR MOVING IN FROM THE CANADIAN SHIELD TO CLEAR THE  
SKY. THAT WILL HELP DECOUPLE THE BOUNDARY LAYER TO ALLOW COLDER  
TEMPERATURES. CURRENTLY DEW POINTS ARE WELL ABOVE FREEZING,   
HOWEVER DEW POINTS UPSTREAM OF OUR CWA ARE IN THE 30S. SO I AM   
THINKING WE WILL SEE LOWS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S OVER OUR   
NORTHERN SECTIONS. LOW AREAS WOULD THEN HAVE THE RISK OF FROST.   
LEOTA WILL LIKELY GET BELOW FREEZING TONIGHT

 WE DO STAY IN THE COLD AIR ON TUESDAY. THE LOW LEVEL THICKNESS  
VALUES (1000/925 AND 1000/850) SUPPORT HIGHS MOSTLY IN THE 60S.
AT GRAND RAPIDS, AT THIS TIME OF YEAR HAVING A DAY WITH A HIGH IN  
THE 60S HAPPENS ONLY 7 YEARS IN 100, SO THIS IS A VERY LOW  
FREQUENCY  EVENT IF IT DOES ACTUALLY HAPPEN."  

A real cool couple of late June days

[CentralNebWeather]

5 pm, June 21st. - temperature 75 degrees, humidity 34%, dew point 45. Almost unheard of for late June. Unfortunately, heat and humidity will surge back the next several days. 

[james1976]

Currently 68 with a dew of 36. Very comfy

[Tom]

It's a very cool and crisp morning out there today.  Made it down to 51F while there are many mid/upper 40's out farther into the NW/W burbs.  Quite the cold air around the region this morning...many record low's being set and there are a number of spots in northern lower MI that are in the upper 20s!  It looks like @OttumwaSnomow @Hawkeye @dubuque473are all setting record lows this morning...the "Iowa Trio"...

[Clinton]

Currently 55 with a dew point of 49. Absolutely wonderful!

[Clinton]

Some severe weather possible today for Neb and Iowa and more widespread severe weather possible Thursday.

[Tom]

My area managed to get close to the higher amounts of rain from the storms Sun pm.  I'm closer to the Mt. Prospect/Des Plaines border and there were local reports of about 2.5".  The ground is soaked as i've picked up close to 4" of rain in the past week or so.  The models are painting another 1-3" by this weekend...the pattern that keeps on giving???  I think we will be looking back by end of July and say...what drought???

 

 

0z Euro suggesting hydro issues a real possibility as a stalled frontal boundary sets up.  I recall this pattern in the autumn/winter that had multiple waves come up along a stalled front.  Suddenly, the pattern is turning very active as we close out June.  

[Tom]

Hats off to the NWS and all the local media for informing residents all across N IL of the severe wx threat.  Remarkably, there were ZERO deaths to report and only 8 injuries.  The preliminary reports coming out of the NWS is that this was indeed an EF-3 tornado that ripped through the southern burbs with max winds of 140 mph.  There may also be a couple EF-0 tornado's in the surrounding area that could be updated in the coming days.  It's wonderful to see the community come together and help with the clean up.  Some of the footage I saw looks like an explosion occurred.  Houses blown off the foundation, cars flipped upside down and blown down the street, pieces of wood pierced into the sides of buildings...its crazy.  I hate seeing the devastation severe wx can cause but at the same time as a weather enthusiast I'm in awe at what nature can display.

https://wgntv.com/weather/ef-3-tornado-tears-through-southwest-suburbs-leaving-trail-of-destruction/

 

On a more tranquil note, yesterday felt like a late Sept day with gusty NW winds and puffy cumulus clouds.  The high was only 71F.  Today, more of the same but a little warmer in the mid 70's.  Oh, and ya, today marks the 1st day whereby we start losing daylight as we SLOWLY progress towards the Winter Solstice.  

[westMJim]

Well we sure are off to a cold start to the calendar summer. First off yesterdays official high of 69 at Grand Rapids was set at 1:33AM it is hard in the summer time to have the high set before sunrise. I will try and see if I can get any information on that from the NWS. That high of 69 was the 12th coldest high for any June 21st at GR. So during the day it was one of the coldest daytimes for the date. Now if that reported low of 39 at Grand Rapids is correct then that would tie the record low for Grand Rapids for any June 22nd The forecasted high of 68 would be the 9th coldest high for any June 22nd. Here at my house the overnight low was 42 and at this time it is clear and 43 here.

[Tom]

Based on the data I'm seeing, the general theme for most of the eastern Sub is get ready for nature to flip the switch "on" in the precip dept.  My goodness, but the pattern setting up is extremely wet...

.

[OttumwaSnomow]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

It's a very cool and crisp morning out there today.  Made it down to 51F while there are many mid/upper 40's out farther into the NW/W burbs.  Quite the cold air around the region this morning...many record low's being set and there are a number of spots in northern lower MI that are in the upper 20s!  It looks like @OttumwaSnomow @Hawkeye @dubuque473are all setting record lows this morning...the "Iowa Trio"...

Awesome  morning! Low of 46F  and low dewpoint  of 44F

[Tom]

1 hour ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

Awesome  morning! Low of 46F  and low dewpoint  of 44F

I had the chills this morning it was quite nippy for me...while I do like warm summery mornings, these cool and crisp mornings are also welcomed in my book.  It doesn't look like we will be seeing any heat for a little while.

[OmahaSnowFan]

Here's the video I took of the Pella, IA tornado from Father's Day. Was rated a high end EF-1. Unfortunately I missed the beginning of the tornado on the video as I was just pulling up to this spot, so the majority of the video is when it was a funnel going up and down.

*make sure to switch to HD quality if it doesn't start that way*

 

[westMJim]

Update on overnight lows. The official overnight low at GRR was 41 that is the 2nd coldest low for any June 22nd there were reports of a low of 39 but they are not official so that will not go into the record books. There was a official low of 30 at Cadillac. The overnight low here at my house was 42. At this time it is cloudy and 64 here at my house and the last reading at Grand Rapids was also 64.

[westMJim]

Getting a moderate shower here now and the temperature has now dropped down to 62.

[Hawkeye]

I sure hope the GFS is wrong about Thursday/Friday.  The last several runs have shown much of the MCS activity getting stuck down in Missouri, with much less rain across Iowa.

[bud2380]

Naturally it’s going to rain tonight right when I don’t want it to. I’m hoping my daughters softball game can get in before it rains but models are showing rain coming in around 6. Beautiful day currently. 77° sunny with a light breeze. 

[Hawkeye]

The GFS and Euro are both parking a cut-off upper low over our region for several days this weekend and next week.

[Iowawx]

A pretty strong storm is moving into the Cedar Rapids area. Radar suggests it could have hail. Skies are very dark to the NW. 

[Hawkeye]

The strong cell passed well north of Cedar Rapids.  The rest of this rain cluster, even the yellow, is very light.

[bud2380]

It downpoured for 10 minutes. Now it’s cleared off and I’m getting slotted directly between areas of moderate rain. I’ll have to check my gauge when I get home. 

[Hawkeye]

Models suggested today/tonight would be a bit hit-and-miss, that some locations would get good rain while others would not.  So far, Cedar Rapids has been firmly in the miss category.  A couple strong cells missed north earlier and now the heavy stuff has set up in southeast Iowa.  There is still an area of rain moving in from central Iowa, so maybe we can get a couple more tenths.

[bud2380]

I’m up to .29” on my electronic gauge. And another cell coming through. Perhaps we’ll get a half inch out of this. 

[Stormy]

6 hours ago, bud2380 said:

It downpoured for 10 minutes. Now it’s cleared off and I’m getting slotted directly between areas of moderate rain. I’ll have to check my gauge when I get home. 

I also was getting slotted with better rainfall just north and south and wouldn’t you believe it, a nice cell again crapping out as it moved in, similar to Sunday. But better rain is falling lately and I’m now up to 0.75” on my digital gauge. It may be a little high? At least no damaging hail storm like a few swaths in Iowa had where it piled up several inches in spots and really damaged crops. Some amazing videos and pics of hail and supercells on Twitter. I’m also amazed at there being supercells not very long after a record chilly morning with record or near record low PWATS!

[Tom]

3 hours ago, Sparky said:

I also was getting slotted with better rainfall just north and south and wouldn’t you believe it, a nice cell again crapping out as it moved in, similar to Sunday. But better rain is falling lately and I’m now up to 0.75” on my digital gauge. It may be a little high? At least no damaging hail storm like a few swaths in Iowa had where it piled up several inches in spots and really damaged crops. Some amazing videos and pics of hail and supercells on Twitter. I’m also amazed at there being supercells not very long after a record chilly morning with record or near record low PWATS!

#volatility...quite the dramatic wx pattern we are now begin to experience around the MW on the periphery of the ridge.   It looks like your area and the general eastern ag belt region is going to get lit up in the precip dept.   Overall, the past 7 days have delivered enough precip in the drought area to provide some much needed relief.  Drought bust rains coming???

 

What a fascinating wx pattern is shaping up as we close out the month of June and head into July.  Nature dialing up some massive blocking???  Wouldn't ya know it, the Summer season is showcasing some interesting wx across our continent and to me is prob suggesting a glimpse of where we are heading down the road.  A massive spike in the PNA is going to fire up an insane ridge near the PAC NW/SW C.A.

 

The Euro Weeklies run this past Monday carries this general idea into Aug after a brief relaxing around 4th of July period.

 

My goodness, the 0z Euro is suggesting places in IL and surround areas will need a canoe.  Not good for crop I'd imagine.

Next 8 days...

 

[Tom]

Time to say Good Bye to the Drought???  This is a wildly strong signal that the Lower Lakes region will see a big gulp of moisture by months end.  

P.S.  Nature, can you carbon copy this during Dec-Mar with cold air???  I'll remember this one...

0z EPS...

 

[Stormy]

I picked up 0.83” . Still need about 2” more!

[Clinton]

Not a bad forecast for the rest of the week, hope I can get a nice rain tomorrow and Friday.

[Clinton]

Thursday and Thursday night continue to look good for widespread severe thunderstorms.  The slight risk area has been expanded, will be interesting to see where the SPC goes with this tomorrow.

[westMJim]

With a high/low of 69/41 yesterday was one of the coldest June 22nd at Grand Rapids history. And it looks like for a while there has been a major pattern change from warm and dry to wet and cool at least for the next two weeks. The over night low here at my house was 49 it looks like the official low at GRR will be 50. At this time it is cloudy and 61 here at my house. I work for the West Michigan Whitecaps and last night the bus driver for the visiting team (The Dayton Dragons) got his winter coat on. Now while Dayton is not all that far south it is none the less far enough south that it was very cold for him.

[Hawkeye]

Last evening all the heavy rain was sinking south of Cedar Rapids, so I was just hoping to get a few tenths out of it.  However, the tail hung back through the area all night.  Several rounds of solid rain added up to a very nice 1.01".

[Hawkeye]

Quad Cities NWS graphic from this morning.

[james1976]

I picked up 0.41" yesterday evening. Several quick hitting showers/storms moved through. Things are starting to green up now. 

Tomorrow looks pretty interesting!

[bud2380]

Amazingly I got 1.18" yesterday.  Many models were showing this to be a very minor event until yesterday, so it was quite a surprise.  More coming Thursday it appears.