I was planning on writing a quick recap on the wacky month of June, but the first day of July has me putting that off until tomorrow. I thought March was the month that is supposed to come in like a lion!

The first thunderstorm showed up in SW RI around dawn. It rolled through Bristol before 8 AM, and that was only the appetizer to a much bigger course a few hours later. The second storm developed along the coast, and moved very slowly to the ENE. This storm, unlike many that we see in Southeastern New England, developed, intensified, and expanded until it was the size of the southern half of RI.

It became apparent before noon that the storm hitting southern RI was going to be a headache. The first storm had dumped 1.3" of rain in Westerly, and the second one was capable of dumping more - a lot more. In four very soggy hours the rain bucket filled to over 5" of rain in Westerly. Flash flooding was occurring in many places as the water rose suddenly without warning on streets throughout SE CT and SW RI.

Digital Stormtracker XT rainfall estimate for Southern RI and SE CT.

The storm slowly trudged to the north and east. This was the scene looking west from Bristol Harbor at 12:45 pm. I had just gotten a (much needed) haircut nearby, and even though I was in a hurry to get into the weather center, I took the time to snap this picture. There was plenty of vivid lightning on the horizon, and the rumble of thunder could be heard. The scene was so impressive that there were at least four other people standing near me taking cell phone pics. The line of storms was stretching from the south coast of RI along the West Bay to north of Providence at this time.

The storms were not quite as heavy in Providence through Eastern MA, but they were still notable. Hail was reported in many spots along the coast of RI and MA. Widespread flooding was not seen in Providence, but some large puddles made driving difficult throughout the area. 

Digital Stormtracker XT rainfall estimate for July 1, 2009

Unfortunately, we are concerned about more heavy showers and thunderstorms tomorrow as the air overhead will remain very unstable. The basic weather setup is a cool pool of air in the higher levels of the atmosphere over the Northeast. A little bit of warming of the very moist air near the surface provides the spark for the heavy thunderstorms that have erupted for the last few days in the Northeast.

The weather will change in time for the Fourth of July. The weather should be decent for the parade, but a cold front swinging through late in the day could kick off a few showers or t-storms. Highs will be 75-80°, and it will not be too muggy.

 -Fred

We all know this weather pattern will break..and hopefully when it does the "nicer" change will last a while. For now..though..we are in a rut..here are a few more crazy stats. adding to what Fred mentioned Monday.
 

Going back to MAY 1st...40 calendar days out of 54 have seen at least a trace of rain.  I mention "calendar" days because some rains carry over from one day to the next..meaning there have NOT been 40 rain "events". Nonetheless very frequent happenings!
Although the rain has been frequent..the TOTAL AMOUNT of rain has been close to average..suggesting a lot of mostly light rainfall totals. (10 of the 40 days have seen just a trace!)  This is generally good for agriculture and to avoid any flooding.
 

How about  this...since MAY 1st...ONLY 5 DAYS have seen mostly sunny skies..if you define "mostly sunny" as 80% or more of the possible sunshine for that day!
On the other hand..since May 1st..30 DAYS have been mostly cloudy..if you define "mostly cloudy" as 20% or less of the possible sunshine for that day!

So far through today this month...we have seen JUST 30% of the POSSIBLE SUNSHINE we could get...usually in June we see 60%! Doing the math that means instead of seeing an average of 207 hours of sun through today's date..we've seen ONLY 103 hours...we've been "ripped off "by nature OVER 100 HOURS!!  That is a sorry stat. for sunlovers!!!

Finally there are a couple of stats that might be considered "good" and help out the pocketbook and improve indoor comfort.  Over the last 5 days this cloudy stretch has not let the temperature rise above 75 during the day..nor drop below 60 at night. Also in the last week..the temperature has been below 55 degrees for just 13 hours (out of about 170 hours ). BOTH of these stats show very little extreme in temperature..figures within several degrees of "room" temperature..quite comfortable. Little or no indoor cooling..or heating has been required.  We stay relatively comfortable indoors and save $$ on the electric bill!!  There's always a silver lining to this weather misery!!

JIM CORBIN

This stationary ocean storm is the icing on the cake of an overall lousy month of June. Temperatures have been below 75° for eight days straight, and it's likely we'll make it to ten in a row before it finally warms up.

The storm cranked wind gusts over 45 mph in coastal Massachusetts today. The wind gusted to 46 mph in Chatham, 48 mph on the Vineyard, and 50 mph on Nantucket.

Unfortunately, the storm is not going to move much in the next couple of days, although it will be weakening. The wind will not be as strong tomorrow or Wednesday, but clouds will prevail, and temperatures will probably not escape the 60s. Look for more showers tomorrow and Wednesday, too.

Showers are nothing new this month, with 19 of 22 days featuring at least a trace of rain. We may make it to 23 of 26 by Friday. It should be warmer on Thursday and Friday, but some early morning drizzle or showers on Thursday, and scattered showers on Friday could keep the streak alive.

Speaking of streaks...they have also had an unusually cool streak in Arizona. There have been two straight weeks of temps below 100°, and the people are loving it. The relatively comfortable temps are part of the coolest June stretch since 1913.

If you're looking for heat, you need to look no further than the Midwest. Highs were in the mid-90s from St. Louis through Minnesota. Some of that warm weather will try to spread east after this stubborn storm weakens. I don't believe we'll get that hot any time soon, but we should see the 80s sometime between Friday and Sunday.

-Fred

It's been quite a dreary stretch lately. We have seen at least a trace of rain 12 of the last 15, and 20 of the last 30 days at TF Green. Even though it has been cloudy and showery, there hasn't been a lot of heavy rain. In fact, we have only seen about 60% of the normal amount of rain in the last month.

In a way, it reminds me of this past January. It was consistently cold, but not incredibly cold throughout the month. We have been consistently dealing with showers, but we haven't seen an awful lot of rain.

It has also been cooler than normal over the past month. The same general weather pattern is likely to prevail over the next 6-10 days, so don't expect any huge warm-up. Having said that, it should not be as dreary as it has been for the last few days.

A westerly breeze will bring back the sun and warmer temperatures

We should get a break from the thick cloud cover over the weekend. At this point, it looks like we may also be shower-free. Of course, the weather leading up to the weekend doesn't look like anything special.

-Fred