If it's June, it must be warm, wet and windy

[July 10, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Warm, wet and windy! That was June, depending on where you lived in the United States.

The month was exceptionally hot in the South and East, wetter than normal across a northern tier of states and may have had the second most tornadoes of any June on record, the National Climatic Data Center reported Friday.

Nationally averaged, June was warmer than normal, a pattern that has been continuing in recent years as greenhouse warming caused by industrial and other emissions increases. June global climate data were not yet available.

But the climate center said it was the hottest June on record for New Jersey, Delaware and North Carolina, as a high pressure area directed hot, sunny weather over the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

It was the second hottest June on record in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, the agency added.

In the contiguous 48 states only Washington and Oregon were cooler than normal, and both were also wetter than unusual.

That was thanks to conditions in the Pacific Northwest which directed storms across the northern and central states, bringing wetter than normal conditions.

It was the wettest June on record for Michigan and near-record rainfall fell in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska.

In addition, the federal Storm Prediction Center said there were 387 preliminary tornado reports during June.

If confirmed, this will be the second most active June on record -- behind 1992.

The center said there were 67 preliminary tornado reports in Minnesota, topping the previous record of 35 tornadoes during June 2005.

The climate and storm centers are both agencies of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

___

Online: http://www.noaa.gov/

[Associated Press; By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.