Weather Events Page. Yet, in its initial stages, the 2012 drought was viewed favorably by row-crop producers across the Plains and Midwest, as open field conditions promoted a torrid planting pace. Three centers of dryness appear at the six month time scale — the same two that are evident at three months (West and Ohio-Tennessee Valley) plus the Mid-Atlantic.

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June 2012 ranked as the warmest June in the 1895-2012 record for Colorado, in the top ten warmest category for seven nearby states, and in the warmest third of the historical distribution for twelve additional ones. This deluge was enough to neutralize long-term deficits that had built up over the previous 24 months. Much of Tennessee is now experiencing a severe (D2) drought. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Submit a Report Fall Frost Climatology Storm Reports During June 2012, temperatures were much above normal across much of the country from the Southwest to the Great Lakes, resulting in potential evapotranspiration (PE) values which exceeded four inches across most of the country except the Pacific Northwest and far west coast. Kona, Hawaii received 0.21 in (5.3 mm), 21 percent of normal for June. Water demand is usually measured by evapotranspiration (the amount of water that would be evaporated and transpired by plants).

The hardest-hit areas (as measured by pasture, soil moisture impacts) are the Southern to Central Rockies, Central Plains, and Ohio Valley. AE is how much water actually is evapotranspired and is limited by the amount of water that is available. July 2011-June 2012 ranked in the top ten driest category for Nevada (third driest) and Wyoming (seventh driest). The year ended with most of the area in D0-D1 drought conditions. As of June 26, the USDM indicated a few areas of abnormally dry conditions, including most of West Virginia, and parts of northern New York and Vermont. Much of the Eastern Seaboard has near normal Z Index values only because the first week or two were cooler than normal beneath an upper-level trough, resulting in below-normal monthly mean temperatures. It was the driest January through June since 1895 in Delaware and the 5th driest in Maryland. Delaware had the driest January-June on record with Maryland at fifth driest. Precip Reports Outlook Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. The hot and dry weather this month created dangerous fire weather conditions in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. SBN Monthly Drought Focal Point, Hazards June 1956 is a close match for the dry areas of June 2012 based on precipitation. As fall began, a series of low pressure systems and accompanying strong cold fronts moved across the eastern half of the US. Extreme Drought was introduced to over 5 percent of the Midwest in June. Salt Lake City received only a trace of precipitation, the third driest June in a record dating back to 1928. Corn planted early in the season showed signs of damage due to the dry weather across Florida prior to Debby, while in Georgia, corn yields were estimated to be down 10 to 15 percent due to increased cloud cover and less solar radiation during the month. Dry and windy conditions dominated the Southwest, allowing for severe fire weather to persist throughout the month.

Marine, Current Conditions This precipitation pattern is evident at short time scales (2, 3, and 6 months), while at longer time scales a dry pattern at interior stations becomes evident (12, 24, and 36 months). Other states, such as Georgia and New Mexico, have had prolonged drought but some have not experienced extreme conditions in the last three months (31st warmest and 41st driest April-June for Georgia) while others have (third warmest and 15th driest April-June for New Mexico). The June dryness also shows up in the rainfall anomaly map for the last two months. In many respects, June was a repeat of May. Nineteen other states ranked in the driest third of the historical record. Probabilistic Snowfall

These areas have had the least precipitation and smallest percent of normal precipitation during March-June 2012. Severe Climatology

It exceeded, in many measures, the 1988–89 North Ame… The last time the April-June Palmer Z Index was this dry was 1988, which had the most severe Palmer Z Index and the driest and twelfth warmest April-June. In summary, several of these indicators suggest that the 2012 drought is similar to the 1950s drought in extent, pattern, and intensity, although not in duration.

Over a third of the U.S. was very dry (the driest ten percent of the historical record) during June 2012. Warm anomalies dominated the central regions at the monthly level and most of the country during the last half of the month (weeks 1, 2, 3, 4). Longer-term conditions continued drier than normal (last 2, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months), especially for the southern islands. Texas farmers harvested their summer crops in early June, and they generally received a better yield than expected, even in West Texas where rain was scarce. With the Pacific storm track near the Canadian border, subtropical high pressure dominating the weather, and a weak start to the summer monsoon, above-normal rain fell in the Pacific Northwest but much of the western U.S. was left with little significant precipitation this month. Midwest areas in drought quadrupled during the month and areas in Severe Drought increased from less than 2 percent to more than 15 percent of the region. This record short-term drought resulted in a rapid expansion of overall drought conditions for these three states.

NOAA Weather Radio The expansion of the D2-D4 range (severe to exceptional drought conditions) was quite impressive as it jumped from 8 percent coverage at the end of May to 47 percent coverage at the end of June. In Alaska, June 2012 was generally drier than normal in the northern and northwestern areas with a mixed pattern at central and southern stations. Several systems toward the end of November and into December produced widespread rainfall across the area, but it was not enough to erase or ease long-tern deficits. The driest area of the region proved to be southern and southeastern Texas, where a majority of stations received only 0 to 25 percent of normal precipitation. However, as the fall season wore on, the weater pattern began to revert back to a dry pattern. Social Media Feeds COOP Descending air ("subsidence") associated with the High inhibited precipitation in most areas, as seen in the precipitation pattern on the monthly scale as well as a weekly basis (weeks 1, 2, 3, 4). In Louisiana, northern parishes are now experiencing moderate (D1) drought as well. It was during this time that much of Colorado had multiple days at or above 100 degrees F (37.8 degrees C). With a few small exceptions, June was a relatively dry month with much of the region receiving less than average precipitation totals.

As noted by the Southeast Regional Climate Center, for the first time since October, mean temperatures in June were below average across most of the Southeast region. Hourly Weather Ranchers noted healthy grasslands provided food for cattle while the spring rains refilled stock tanks. WSR-88D