Boise Weather Wrap Up For JUNE

JUNE 2012 WAS A FAIRLY QUIET BUT DRY MONTH WITH NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE WAS 67.3 DEGREES WHICH CAME IN ALMOST EXACTLY AVERAGE FOR THE MONTH. DAYTIME HIGHS WERE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL BUT NIGHTTIME LOWS WERE ABOUT A DEGREE BELOW NORMAL. JUNE FEATURED MANY COMFORTABLE NIGHTS WITH LOWS IN THE 40S AND 50S WHILE HIGHS WERE MOSTLY IN THE 80S WITH A FEW 90S MIXED IN. ONE DAY...THE 5TH WAS VERY CHILLY AND SHOWERY WITH THE HIGH ONLY REACHING 57 DEGREES. NO TRIPLE DIGIT READINGS WERE RECORDED DURING JUNE AND NO TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE TIED OR BROKEN.

THE MOST PRONOUNCED ASPECT TO JUNE WAS THE OVERALL DRYNESS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH. THE NINETEEN HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH RECORDED IN THE RAIN GAGE WAS A FULL HALF INCH BELOW THE NORMAL VALUE. SHOWERS WERE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN AND ONLY THE FIRST WEEK HAD RAIN WHILE THE LAST THREE WEEKS WERE COMPLETELY DRY. THE DRYNESS WAS THE DIRECT RESULT OF A PERSISTENT WEDGE OF DRY AIR BETWEEN A TROUGH IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND AN INTENSE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE ROCKIES AND PLAINS. THE DRY CONDITIONS IN JUNE CONTRIBUTED TO QUICKLY DRYING GRASS LAND FUELS AND SEVERAL BLM FIRES OCCURRED IN AND AROUND THE BOISE AREA.

THE MOST IMPORTANT WEATHER OF THE MONTH WAS A HIGH WIND EVENT WHICH OCCURRED ON THE EVENING OF THE 4TH. A STRONG COLD FRONT CROSSED THE AREA ACCOMPANIED BY AN UNUSUALLY POWERFUL JETSTREAM. IN ADDITION...A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTRIBUTED TO THE HIGH WINDS. THE BOISE AIRPORT RECORDED A WIND GUST OF 60 MPH AS THE FRONT CROSSED WITH A PROLONGED PERIOD OF HIGH WINDS IN THE RANGE OF 35 TO 50 MPH. WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE WITH TREES AND DOWNED POWER LINES OCCURRED. LATE IN THE EVENING MORE THAN 50,000 PEOPLE WERE WITHOUT POWER IN THE TREASURE VALLEY AND MANY OF THESE WERE NOT RESTORED UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. TEMPERATURES PLUMMETED BEHIND THE COLD FRONT FROM A HIGH OF 93 DEGREES ON THE 4TH TO A CHILLY 57 DEGREE READING THE NEXT DAY...AN UNBELIEVABLE 24 HOUR DROP OF 36 DEGREES.