June ended up cooler than normal

Unlike last year, most Iowans are probably sad to see the month of June come to an end. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says the warm humid days we’ve seen in past years during June were few and far between in the just completed month. Temperatures averaged about one-point-seven degrees below normal for an average temperature of 68-point-one degrees. Hillaker says those cool days made it easier on our pocketbooks. Hillaker says the cool days cut the need for air conditioning by 44 percent when compared to June of last year, and overall cooling days are also down 44 percent so far this year, giving us some break after having to pay more for heat this past winter. Hillaker says the cool weather also led to very few severe storms and just one reported tornado in what is usually the busiest month of the year for the dangerous storms. Rainfall for June continued the recent trend of normalcy.We had a statewide average of four-point-five-eight inches of rainfall, just six-one hundredths below the normal average. Hillaker says the cool temperatures let our lawns and farm fields make the most out of the rain we got in June.He says lower temperatures keep the water from evaporating as fast, and he says it also is one of the big reasons we haven’t had as much severe weather. Hillaker says overall precipitation for the year is running about an inch-and-a-half less than usual, but he says most of the deficit was in the first three months of the year. Hillaker says the first six months of 2003 averaged about one degree cooler than normal.