June outlook - will it be as wet?

What has felt like an endless stretch of bad weather is... for now... over! There's so much to clean up in the wake of flooding, hail, and then the tornadoes that have hit different parts of the state.

In case you missed it, the EF4 tornado that hit Linwood Tuesday evening was the strongest tornado since May 25, 2016. That particular tornado (shown below) went north of Abilene and closed in on Chapman. It did some significant damage to a few homes and had estimated winds of 180 mph. (Photo courtesy Kris Sanders) - this picture from 2016

May Rainfall:

It was one of the wettest months of May ever recorded for much of the state. Some areas have had more than half of their annual rainfall in just this month alone. The map above shows some areas with 15-20" - those are the areas in white. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

What will June be like?

First off, June will not have near as much rain as May, BUT... it will still be a wetter than normal month. I would expect that much of the state will end up with about half of the rainfall that we saw in May. And the temperatures won't be anything out of the ordinary. In fact, we might have several comfortable stretches throughout the month.

Early June: Looks very warm... almost hot for some. Temperatures will be near to above normal with some 90s in the forecast during the first week. Thunderstorms are STILL in the forecast, but these will be on a scattered basis for much of the Plains. Some of the storms will have heavy rainfall.

Mid June: We will likely start cooling off during the middle of the month. And rain chances will definitely continue on a scattered basis. But it will be hard, if not impossible, two weeks out to forecast exactly WHERE the storms will be. We do know that the wet pattern will roll on through the middle of the month.

Forecast into the second half of June:

Late June:
Cooler than normal weather should continue across the Plains and in the deep south. This will likely mean mostly highs in the 80s for the area. Much of the region continues to be wetter than normal, which will keep the afternoon temperatures down.

No scorching heat waves in the Plains this summer. The setup just isn't there for that this year.