Summer Starts With Sizzle

National Weather Service - Sun 05:27 PM 07/01/2012

After a chilly start June really turned up the furnace as blistering 100-degree heat dominates the final week of the month.

After experiencing the 2nd warmest May on record, it appeared that June might reverse the trend in dramatic fashion by arriving with lows in the 40s in most areas on the 1st and 2nd. That changed in a hurry, for on The 2nd highs soared into the mid 80s, with highs in the lower and mid 90s by the 4th. Temperatures stabilized from the 4th to the 22nd, however as they were occasionally 5 to 10 degrees above normal. Then, on the weekend of the 23rd and 24th, temperatures took off like a fighter jet with nearly all areas experiencing highs between 100 and 110 degrees from the 24th to the end of the month.

In the final lap, from the 24th to the 30th, nearly all of central and south-central Kansas was hideously hot with highs ranging from 102 to as high as 113 degrees. In fact, during that 6-day span, Russell reached or exceeded 110 degrees four times, on the 24th, and each day from the 26th to the 28th. It was on the 27th that Russell was scorched by a high of 113 degrees that was preceded by a high of 112 on the 26th. Russell wilted in 103-degree plus heat each day from the 24th to the end of the month. Russell set record highs on five consecutive days, from the 24th to the 28th.

It’s surprising that only two other record temperature events occurred. By reaching 106 degrees on the 28th, Wichita tied the mark set in 1990. On the 27th, Salina set a record for warmest low with a temperature of 81 degrees. The primary reason for the scarcity of record temperatures for Wichita, Salina and Chanute is their climate records date back to the late 1880s and mid 1890s, whereas Russell`s only dates back to 1949.

The following is a list of temperature records that were set or tied for the month of June:

Russell: new record old record

June 24th 110 109 in 1971

June 25th 108 108 in 1978 (tied)

June 26th 112 108 in 1980

June 27th 113 106 in 1980 and in 1953

June 28th 110 108 in 1968

Wichita:

June 28th 106 106 in 1990 (tied)

Salina:

June 27th 81 78 in 1998

Due primarily to the unusually cool start for the rest of the area, Salina was the only one of the three primary climate sites to reach the top-ten warmest June`s on record. Salina`s average June temperature (average of each daily high and low) was 80.3 degrees, 4.7 degrees above normal. Consequently, June 2012 tallied the 7th warmest June on record for Salina.

Thunderstorms made few visits to the area. In fact, had it not been for a 3-day stint of thunderstorms from the 14th to the 16th, along with more activity late on the 30th, this June would have been one of the ten driest on record.

Had it not been for the 1.67 inches measured from the 14th to the 16th, Wichita would have only received 0.88 inch of rain which would have made 2012 Wichita`s 6th driest June on record.

Salina`s monthly distribution was even more pronounced. Had it not been for the 1.89 inches measured from the 14th to the 16th, Salina would have only received 0.33 inch of rain, making 2012 their 3rd driest June on record.

Needless-to-say, summer 2012 is off to a sizzling start. The following is a list of the 10 hottest summers on record:

Wichita:

1st: 85.3 in 1936 and in 1934

3rd: 85.2 in 2011 and in 1980

5th: 84.5 in 1954

6th: 82.3 in 2010

7th: 81.7 in 1956

8th: 81.6 in 1901

9th: 81.5 in 2001 and in 1952

Salina:

1st: 86.7 in 1934

2nd: 85.3 in 1936

3rd: 84.0 in 1980

4th: 83.1 in 2011

5th: 82.7 in 1954

6th: 81.2 in 2002, 1991 and 1956

9th: 81.1 in 2010

10th: 81.0 in 2001 and in 1983

Chanute:

1st: 84.9 in 1934

2nd: 84.6 in 1936

3rd: 83.9 in 1954

4th: 83.5 in 1980

5th: 83.1 in 2011

6th: 82.1 in 1913

7th: 81.4 in 1952

8th: 80.8 in 2010 and in 1956

10th: 80.6 in 1963

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