Climate Summary

Temperature and Precipitation by climate division
Departures from Normal for June 2009 - based on preliminary data.

June 2009 is a tale of 2 climate patterns: the first 2 weeks of the month were generally wet with near normal temperatures while the second half of the month was generally hot and dry. The first half of June brought heavy rainfall and severe weather to many areas of western and northern NC. Flash floods were reported in Raleigh and Greensboro. But after the last storms rolled through on June 16, the weather pattern shifted. During the last 2 weeks of the month, winds were generally from the west and northwest. Humidity was low, temperatures were high, and rain was hard to find. For many, it was a welcome change. In particular, the unusually low humidity and blue skies provided ideal conditions for recreation.

Early June: Wet
Precipitation for June 1-16, 2009
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Late June: Dry
Precipitation for June 17-30, 2009
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Overall, June precipitation amounts were above normal for much of western and northern North Carolina, and below normal for southern and eastern parts of the state. Temperatures were near- to above-normal for most of NC — and several locations has near record temperatures during the last weeks in June.

Precipitation for June 2009
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Precipitation for June 2009: Percent of Normal
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Impacts to Agriculture and Water Resources

A wet May and early June caused problems for some growers, especially in western and northern parts of NC. Field in these areas were often too wet to work, and hay that had grown so well this spring was too wet to cut. Tobacco planting was delayed in part in northern and western parts of the state, and the abundance of rain also increased problems with leaf and root fungal diseases. In western NC, many vegetable crops fell victim to root rot. Cucurbit downy mildew outbreaks have been identified across eastern NC, and sclerotinia blight has been found on peanuts in northeastern NC — the earliest occurrence in recent years.

By the end of June, the hot, dry weather helps those where conditions had been too wet, but for others started to bring concern. The high temperatures, clear skies, and low humidity dried out soils, but conditions have become a bit too dry for some growers, most notably corn growers in parts of eastern NC.

Change in US Drought Monitoring Status during June 2009
Provided by the NC DENR Division of Water Resources

Summer Interns

The SCO is proud to have 13 undergraduate students and recent graduates of NCSU working for our office this summer. Information about 6 of the interns can be found below, while the remaining 7 interns were previously featured in last month's newsletter.

Huck Suda — Erosivity

Huck began working at the SCO in Fall 2008 and is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Engineering. Working with researchers at NC A&T, Huck is developing software to calculate rainfall erosivity. Erosivity is the potential ability of rain to cause erosion in a one day. It is the product of daily rainfall kinetic energy and the maximum daily 30-minute rainfall intensity. The calculations are being made available for any CRONOS station that has 1-minute data and will be helpful to engineers and planners.

Rebecca Cumbie — TSWV Advisory

Rebecca is currently pursuing bachelor's degrees in Meteorology and Applied Mathematics at NCSU, and began working for the SCO this summer. Rebecca's focus has been on the development of a web-based decision-support tool aimed at giving the agricultural community a clear picture of their risk to the Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV). TSWV is a topsovirus vectored by tobacco thrips with symptoms such as necrotic spots, streaking, and stunting, and has led to significant losses in NC's tobacco crop in past years. This tool will use climate and forecast data to create an outlook for tobacco thrips generations and movements, which will in turn help estimate the risk of TSWV in the coming days.

Dan McKemy — Climate Education Modules

Dan began working for the SCO at the start of the summer, and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Meteorology at NCSU. Dan has been working with Megan and Amy to create several climate education modules predominantly directed at agricultural growers, which will also serve as the starting point for education tools that can be used by K-12 teachers. One module he has focused on involves the differences between a frost and a freeze, the various kinds of frosts/freezes that occur, and the variety of frost/freeze prevention methods and technologies used by farmers. Another module Dan has put together describes the various types of severe weather experienced over the Southeast and uses historical climate records of each severe weather hazard (if available) to aid in its explanation.

Megan Embrey — Climate Education Modules

Megan began working at the SCO in May, and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Meteorology with a minor in Physics at NCSU. She has been working with Dan and Amy to generate climate modules that will be used to educate the agricultural community about the impacts of climate on the growing season. One module Megan is working on describes the causes of drought, incorporates weather conditions from various droughts in the past, and includes specific cases where drought conditions were exacerbated by heat waves or helped to promote the existence of wildfires. Another module she has created focuses on mid-latitude cyclones, which are important in cases of winter weather across the Southeast and can potentially have huge impacts on the production of crops for those planted in the early spring.

Amy Lee — Climate Education Modules

Amy is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Meteorology with a minor in Environmental Science at NCSU, and began working for the SCO in May. As with Dan and Megan, Amy has been working to develop climate education modules for the agricultural community. One module she's focused on gives basic information on pressure and temperature tendencies with height in the atmosphere. Another module Amy has been working on discusses the potential effects of climate change on agriculture and livestock. Examples include how extreme weather events (droughts, floods, etc.) could decrease crop yield; how excessive summer heat that isn't mitigated by milder winters could reduce fertility and lead to poor health of livestock; and how higher average temperatures could increase the occurrence of disease, pests, and weeds.

Andrew McNamara — Reservoir Inflow Model Analysis

Andrew is currently pursuing bachelor's degrees in Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering at NCSU, and began working for the SCO at the start of the summer. He is currently developing a graphical interface for a forecast model that uses sea surface temperatures and conditions from previous months to predict future precipitation, which is then used to predict reservoir inflow. The interface ultimately serves as an evaluation tool that assesses the model's skill. The results from this analysis will help reservoir managers determine if the model's forecasts will be useful in their decision-making.