NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY
JUNE 2021
May 30-June 5: Wet conditions persisted across the southern half of the Plains, slowing the early stages of the winter wheat harvest and late-season planting efforts. Wetness extended into the western Gulf Coast region, maintaining soggy conditions in
pastures.

Late in the week, increasingly showery weather in the Atlantic Coast States boosted topsoil moisture for pastures and summer crops. Some of the heaviest rain fell in southern Florida and the middle Atlantic coastal plain. As late-week heat spread
eastward across the nation’s northern tier.

A May with little rainfall capped the driest spring on record in several Northwestern locations, including Portland, OR. March-May precipitation in Portland, just 2.52 inches (27 percent of normal), shattered the spring 1994 record of 4.31 inches. The
month was also dry in portions of the middle and southern Atlantic States, where records for lowest May rainfall were broken in cities such as Danville, VA (0.63 inch), and Orlando, FL (0.17 inch). Farther west, however, heavy showers lingered across the
southern Plains. Heavy rain fell as far west as eastern New Mexico, where Roswell experienced its wettest 4-day period on record in May. Roswell’s 5.05-inch total from May 28-31, which included a 3.03- inch deluge on the 30th, was surpassed only by
multi-day events on July 12-15, 1991 (5.83 inches), and September 30 – October 3, 2019 (5.19 inches). In Texas, record-setting rainfall totals for May 31 included 3.56 inches in Abilene and 1.81 inches in Midland. McAllen, TX, collected a daily-record
total (2.37 inches) for June 1. Another deluge occurred in McAllen on June 3, when 4.37 inches fell. As the week progressed, heavy showers began to shift eastward. In Alabama, daily-record amounts for June 2 reached 2.38 inches in Muscle Shoals and 1.46
inches in Huntsville. Fort Myers, FL, also collected a daily-record amount for June 2—a total of 4.77 inches—with most of the rain (4.63 inches) falling in a 90-minute period. In eastern North Carolina, June 2-4 rainfall totaled 4.20 inches in
Elizabeth City and 3.88 inches in Raleigh-Durham. At the end of May, cool conditions lingered from the Midwest into the Northeast.

13-19: Late in the week, a disturbance crossing the Gulf of Mexico became Tropical Storm Claudette while arriving in southeastern Louisiana. Claudette delivered gusty winds and pockets of heavy rain.

As the week began, rain fell in the Pacific Northwest. Daily-record totals for June 13 reached 1.94 inches in Crescent City, CA; 0.95 inch in Olympia, WA; and 0.78 inch in Hillsboro, OR. Elsewhere in Oregon, North Bend received a daily-record sum (1.29
inches) for June 14. Meanwhile, heavy showers dotted the East in advance of a surge of cool air. Daily-record totals reached 2.73 inches (on June 14) in Melbourne, FL, and 1.92 inches (on June 13) in Morgantown, WV. Meanwhile, a few showers and
thunderstorms developed over the Southwest. In California, downtown Los Angeles received rainfall totaling 0.02 inch on June 17— tying a record for the date. In Arizona, however, the Telegraph Fire grew to more than 180,000 acres after jumping a
containment line, becoming the sixth-large wildfire in modern state history. Farther east, humid, showery weather lingered across Florida, while a low-pressure system developed over the Gulf of Mexico. Daily-record rainfall totals in Florida included 2.
82 inches (on June 18) in Jacksonville and 1.68 inches (on June 16) in Vero Beach. On June 19, while situated southwest of New Orleans, LA, the low-pressure system became Tropical Storm Claudette. Heavy showers (locally 4 to 12 inches) and a few severe
thunderstorms occurred along and south of Claudette’s track across the Southeast. On June 19, daily-record totals topped 4 inches in Birmingham, AL (4.36 inches); Mobile, AL (4.22 inches); and Hattiesburg, MS (4.17 inches). The most significant tornado
associated with Claudette—an EF2 with estimated winds approaching 130 mph—cut a 22-mile path across Escambia and Conecuh Counties, AL, on the morning of June 19, injuring at least 20 people. On the same date, a thunderstorm wind gust to 81 mph was
clocked in Pensacola, FL, accompanied by 3.99 inches of rain. Separately, a cold front crossing the Ohio Valley produced a June 18-19 rainfall total of 3.72 inches in Cincinnati, OH—the third-highest, 2-day total on record during June in that location.

20-26: Torrential rain developed in a band across the nation’s mid-section, stretching from the southern Plains into the lower Great Lakes region. Many locations along the axis of heaviest rain received at least 4 inches; a few, mainly in northern
Missouri and environs, reported more than 10 inches, leading to flash flooding and lowland crop submersion.

Early-week showers were heaviest in parts of the South and East; daily-record totals for June 21 included 3.98 inches in Mobile, AL, and 2.31 inches in Morgantown, WV. Mobile’s 5-day (June 18-22) rainfall climbed to 10.28 inches. Similarly, Panama City,
FL, received 9.98 inches in an 8-day period from June 19-26. Meanwhile, showers associated with the Southwestern monsoon onset peppered southern California and the Four Corners States. On June 23 in California, totals of 0.03 inch in Palm Springs, 0.02
inch in Riverside, and 0.01 inch in San Diego were records for the date. Needles, CA, netted a daily-record rainfall of 0.16 inch on June 24, surpassing its total during the preceding 438 days—as only 0.14 inch had fallen in that location from April 12,
2020, to June 23, 2021. During the second half of the week, rain intensified across the central and southern Plains and Midwest. Ottumwa, IA, was pelted by 2.94 inches of rain on June 24, a record for the date. On June 25, rainfall topped 5 inches in
several communities, including Chanute, KS (5.87 inches), and Columbia, MO (5.26 inches). For Chanute, it was the wettest June day on record, surpassing 5.40 inches on June 30, 2007—and the wettest day at any time of year since July 29, 2013, when 6.97
inches fell. For Columbia, it was also the wettest June day (previously, 4.79 inches on June 19, 1928)—and the wettest day since July 30, 1989, when 5.94 inches fell. Hinkson Creek in Columbia rose 8.29 feet above flood stage on June 25, exceeding the
April 2009 high-water mark by 0.89 foot. The Platte River at Sharps Station, MO, achieved its sixth-highest level on record, cresting 7.63 feet above flood stage on June 28—just 2.80 feet below the July 1993 high-water mark. At week’s end, locally
heavy showers pounded the southern Plains and parts of the Midwest. In Iowa, daily-record totals reached 2.72 inches (on June 26) in Mason City and 2.14 inches (on June 25) in Dubuque. June 26 featured daily-record amounts in locations such as South Bend,
IN (4.30 inches); Joplin, MO (3.30 inches); Oklahoma City, OK (2.94 inches); and Grand Rapids, MI (2.81 inches). Elsewhere in Michigan, Lansing received consecutive daily-record totals (2.16 and 2.93 inches, respectively) on June 25-26.

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