Last month was the ninth warmest June in the history of the Duluth station of the National Weather Service.
The mean high temperature last month was 77.5 degrees compared to the normal of 76.8 degrees. The maximum mean high temperature was 85.6 degrees in 1933.
"There was no single reason why June ended up being such a hot month," Joe Moore, a meteorologist at the Duluth station, said on Sunday, July 8.
"But one of the main factors was that, for much of the month, we had essentially a large area of high pressure across the Central Plains and the Midwest, which allowed for warmer air from the south to kind of track into the area and allowed us to have some above-normal temperatures."
The highest temperature last month was 93 degrees on June 29; the highest temperature for June of any year was 100 degrees in 1988.
ADVERTISEMENT
"For the Brainerd lakes area, we didn't see probably as many thunderstorm days that we usually have, so that kind of allowed us to have more hot days," Moore said. "We certainly had a number of thunderstorm events, but just one or two fewer than usual can impact that temperature."
The Brainerd lakes area received 4.07 inches of rain in June-less than the 4.39 inches of precipitation that is normal for the month.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch that was in effect until 11 p.m. Sunday, July 8, that included the Brainerd lakes area and the Duluth metro area.
"At this point, it does look like we're going to continue in the same type of weather pattern, at least for the first two weeks of July where we will have average to slightly above-normal temperatures," Moore said.
"And we're expected to end this month, according to the climate prediction center's outlooks, which is a part of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the center is currently predicting a better chance for above-normal temperatures for the month of July."
Last month's mean temperature was 67.2 degrees when the normal for the month of June was 64.9 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Duluth.
"Once these thunderstorms go through, we've got a nice cooler and drier air mass working in behind the cold front, so the beginning of this work week looks to be beautiful," Moore said.
"We'll have much drier conditions in place-lower dew points, which is why it feels so sticky outside now-so it will feel much more comfortable with temperatures in the low 80s across the Brainerd lakes region."
