Threats of June hurricanes

 

Hurricane Beryl on June 30, 2024 (Source: NOAA)

Although hurricane season officially got underway June 1, Atlantic hurricanes are actually relatively rare this month. That’s because environmental conditions don’t often become favorable over a large area until later in the season. However, there have been some significant June hurricanes.

Beryl (2024): Beryl was the first Category 4 June hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean. Its sustained winds reached 130 mph on June 30. That made it the strongest June hurricane by wind speed on record. The previous record holder was Hurricane Audrey in 1957 whose peak winds reached 125 mph. However, Audrey’s lowest central air pressure was 946 millibars (mb) and that remains the lowest air pressure in a June tropical system. 

Alex (2010): Alex was a Category 2 at peak intensity with sustained winds of 110 mph when it made landfall in Mexico on June 30.  Its minimum central air pressure fell to a low 946 millibars (mb), which is more commonly found in a strong Category 3 or a Category 4 hurricane. Alex was also the Atlantic’s first June hurricane since Allison in 1995. 

Air pressure often falls more quickly in an intensifying tropical system than wind speeds can increase. That’s why meteorologists use air pressure instead of wind speed as a more accurate measure of tropical cyclone intensity. 

Bonnie (1986): In 1986, Bonnie developed in late June and became the first hurricane of the season on June 25. It made landfall along the eastern Texas coast as a Category 1 with sustained winds of 85 mph. This was the last time a June hurricane made landfall in the United States.

Abby (1968): June was active in the tropical Atlantic with three named storms, including two hurricanes. Abby was a minimal Category 1 with peak winds of 75 mph, but weakened to a tropical storm before its initial landfall near Punta Gorda, Florida on June 4. It made a second landfall as a weaker storm near Jacksonville, Florida.  

Later in the month another tropical depression impacted the state of Florida. However, it wasn’t named Tropical Storm “Brenda” until after it had moved eastward into the Atlantic and away from Florida. Brenda became a Category 1 hurricane with peak winds of 75 mph before it dissipated over the open Atlantic. 

Alma (1966): Alma was an exceedingly rare major hurricane that developed in June. Alma was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph at its peak intensity on June 8 in the Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately, it weakened to a Category 1 storm before its landfall near Apalachee Bay, Florida on June 9. Alma was the last major Atlantic hurricane to develop during the month of June until Beryl last year.

How hot can June get?

 

A late-afternoon on a June day in Washington, D.C.

Although June has gotten off to a cooler than average start in the nation’s capital, there are often stretches of very hot June weather. Washingtonians experienced three June heat waves over the last 30 years that have lasted over a week. A "heat wave" is loosely defined as a minimum of three consecutive days of 90° heat or greater.

2024: An 11-day heat wave got underway on June 17. Four of the next 11 days had high temperatures of at least 95°. That includes June 22, 2024, when a high of 100° occurred in Washington, D.C. That was significant for being DC’s first June day of triple-digit heat in more than a decade since June 29, 2012 (104°). This heat wave helped June 2024 finish as DC’s second warmest on record.

2010:  The signature weather event of DC's warmest June was an 11-day heat wave from June 19 - 29. Seven of those 11 days had high temperatures of at least 95°, including a record high of 100° on June 24. That was also DC’s first instance of triple-digit June heat since 1997.

June 2010 was the first of three consecutive June’s with 100-degree heat. This June finished with 18 days of 90-degree heat compared to DC's June average of between seven and eight such days. As a result, June 2010 finished as the warmest on record in the nation’s capital.

1997: The first 17 days of June in 1997 were cooler than average in the nation's capital. That includes a June 3 record cool high of 58°, which is DC's average high on March 20. However, a major shift in the weather pattern occurred during the second half of the month. That led to a nine-day heat wave from June 20 – 28. The hottest day was June 25 that featured a record high of 100°.

Although nine of the final 13 days of this June were warmer than average, it still finished 3.2° cooler than average in the nation's capital. That helps underscore how a heat wave isn't always enough to offset cooler weather over the course of an entire month.

DC’s unofficial start to summer

 

A warm June day in the nation's capital

Last month finished as DC’s first cooler and wetter than average May since 2017. It was DC’s ninth wettest May with 7.73” of rain. Washingtonians didn’t see any 90-degree May heat for the second time in three years.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center expects June to feature near average temperatures in the nation’s capital with a slight chance for above average rainfall. Meteorological summer is comprised of the three-month period of June, July and August.  

Daily average high/low temperatures in Washington, D.C. rise from 81°/63° on June 1 to 89°/71° on June 30. D.C.’s hottest June temperature on record is 104° and occurred on June 29, 2012. Meanwhile, DC’s coolest June temperature is 43° and occurred on June 2, 1897. The earliest in the season it’s been 100° in the nation’s capital was on June 5, 1925. 

June is DC’s second wettest month of the year with an average rainfall total of 4.20”, according to NOAA. Three of DC’s wettest June’s on record have occurred since 2006. DC's rainiest June was in 2006 and second rainiest June in 2015. By comparison, June 2017 was DC’s third driest with only 1.13”.

Residents of the National Capital Region have endured lots of severe weather in June. For example, Maryland’s second strongest tornado occurred on June 2, 1998, when an F4 tornado touched down in Frostburg. DC’s infamous “derecho” occurred on June 29, 2012, and caused widespread wind damage and power outages across the Mid-Atlantic Region. More recently, multiple EF-0 and EF-1 tornadoes struck the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) on June 5, 2024.

No 90-degree heat has occurred in the nation’s capital since August 29, 2024 (93°). However, following almost two weeks with below average temperatures, Washingtonians will see a moderating trend with summer-like warmth during the first week of June.