JUNE 2009 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY IN REVIEW

From the North Shore of Little Rock Lake

Jim Hovda Rice, MN. 56367-0265 jhovda.rice@jetup.net

Reviewing June, I note that half of 2009 is history. It has been an unusual year so far. To me, it seems, winter just wants to hang on as long as possible.

Looking south out our large picture window across Little Rock Lake, I can’t help but notice that this has been a spectacular growing year. Our gardens and grass, are the best ever. We were spared the hail from the significant weather event noted later in this article. Timely rain and a few really warm days did the trick.

For you weather buffs, I’ve started listening on a regular basis to Professor Robert “Bob” Weisman, the St. Cloud State University weather guru on radio station KNSI, 1450 (AM) on the dial at a little after 6:00 & 7:00 A.M.. Professor Bob is one of the noted experts on weather in the Country. His forecast is filled with explanations that give a very warm, friendly and informal touch. I might add that his explanations about our Minnesota’s changing weather give credence too why the forecasts may not always be right on the mark. His leadership has garnered a weather web site that is filled with lots of information. Much of it helps me with these articles. It can be found at www.stcloudstate.edu/weather/default.asp

WEATHER LAST JUNE: Almost identical to this year. We received about two more inches of precipitation for the year total. (15.6" compared to 13.36 this year.)

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENT: 18 June 09 5:20 P.M. - 5:50 P.M.

The afternoon was warm and humid, little or no wind. About 4:00 P.M. the sky was dark and threatening. By 4:50 P.M. almost continuous thunder. This storm coming from the Royalton area started dumping heavy rain about 5:15 P.M. coming down in sheets at times. It was all over by 5:50 P.M. A small amount of pea sized hail and winds to 37 mph broke off some garden flowers. I recorded 1.19" of rain in about twenty minutes.

Only 3 miles east in Rice, MN it was a very different story. This same storm had winds estimated at 50 - 60 mph changed directions frequently. Trees measuring up to 9 ½” in diameter were broken in two. Lots of smaller limbs were on the ground. Hail covered the ground varying in size from pea to quarter size. There was so much hail ( I have never personally seen so much) that it looked like snow drifts beside some buildings. In areas where water drained I measured hail 17" deep. Residents reported that they had 1.4" or rain in their gages. I suspect that the hail added possibly another inch of liquid. The following day hail was still on the ground melting. Customers at the Rice American Legion reported that the water in the street was level with the curbs completely covering the street and hail covered the top of the water. Fred Segler reported that this weather event only lasted about fifteen minutes...

Fred, who has spent a couple hundred hours developing and tending a very large vegetable and flower garden estimates a total loss of what he has planted except for some radishes. Hail nearly covered his garden when I saw it at 7:00 P.M.

Zuleger Creek rose about 1.5 ft and was really brown in color. Little Rock Lake rose almost one inch.

Driving around Rice, I noted this violent weather was confined to only a part of the city and bordering area, a quare mile or so. The weather folks talked of this storm as being “spotty” in how it delivered its punishment. It appears that they were correct. Holdingford, MN also received a lot of hail and high wind.

WEATHER: June mornings started out with really cool temps. It wasn’t until the 15^th that the low temps reached the 50's. The low temp occurred on the 3^rd with a reading of 33.9 degrees producing white frost on the grass and garage roof. Prof. Weisman in his weather report on KSI on 12 June noted that the first 8 - 10 days of June were 8 degrees below normal.

Warm temps were in the 70's and 80's with one 90-degree day (our warmest) on the 25^th. It was our first 90-degree day. The average low was 50.67 and the high 75.58 degrees.

On the moisture side of the picture there was a lot of rain. I believe a couple more inches than was measured in St. Cloud. We received 5.66" for the month for a total of 13.36" for the year. We received rain on fifteen days. Every day from the 14^th to the 22^nd except for two, we received 4.11" of welcome rain. During that period the most rain fell on the 22^nd with a storm that left us 1.33".

WEATHER RECORDS: Our Local low temp was only one degree cooler than our low for the month, 32 degrees in 1993 while the low for out state was a chilly 15 degrees (above zero) at Bigfork in 1964. Our warm temp locally was a sweltering 102 degrees in 1931 and again in 1988 while a temp of 110 degrees was recorded in Canby in 1931. Locally, the most rain for a June fell in 1920 when 10.56" hit the ground. There was no snow in June.......

OTHER RECORDS: The most tornadoes in one day (27) on 16 June 1992 state-wide; Most tornadoes in one month (38) in 2001; The most intense damaged from an F5 tornado occurred in Tracy on 13 June 1968 and on 16 June 1992 one hit in Chandler causing a lot of serious damage.

PHENOLOGY: Here it is June, and the first half felt like April/May. Green things first. On the 1^st, the Rotodendrum was in full bloom, the 10^th saw our first rose blossom, the 13^th brought forth the first peony, 21^st the clamitus in blossom and the hasta’s started blooming on the 24^th. After the 24^th lots of things started showing their colors.

Birds and critters next. The welcome (and sometimes bothersome) Whip-poor-will started up by the bedroom window on the 2^nd . I wondered if this bird would ever get tired of calling. It went on forever. It wasn’t until the 3^rd that the wrens arrived. It took to mid-month for them to arrive in any numbers. On the evening of the 4^th our cat, Ms. Rusty, went nuts by the window. Investigation revealed that there was a tree frog moving about the window looking for anything that was attracted to the light. The only Leopard Frog I saw all month was under the neighbors swing trying (successfully) to stay away from the lawn mower. The first Northern Flicker was at the bird bath on the 8^th and on the 12^th my neighbor Vince Goering observed a river otter by his dock.

Tragedy struck a family of bunnies that had made a nest in our garden. On the morning of the 14^th I discovered three dead baby bunnies all in various stages of having been a meal. Later that day I think I have identified the suspect. A black and white cat in the garden (It had jumped over the fence to get in the garden) looking at the place where the nest was. I hope ma and pa bunny will start over. Just staying alive in the wild is an everyday chore.

On the 18^th the first firefly was seen flashing its bright green light as it flew over the lawn. A Question Mark and White Admiral were observed on the 25^th and many observations of the Pearl Crescent butterfly during the rest of the month.

General observations: Lot’s of Northern Orioles, Brown Headed Cowbirds, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, a good variety of woodpeckers in healthy numbers along with a large flock of Purple Martins. I almost forgot the seemingly good numbers of Grey Catbirds that eat seeds and suet. Of interest, pelicans that normally come in early May then leave right away stayed in numbers until the 20^th. I suspect the clear water in Little Rock Lake allowed them to see their prey.

NATURE NOTE: Jim Gilbert, noted observer of nature things writes: Both the nymphs and adults of the dragonflies are enemies of mosquitoes. They wolf them down as mosquito wigglers when they are nymphs and snatch them out of the air as flying mosquitoes when they are adult dragonflies. Sometimes a dragonfly catches so many mosquitoes that there will be a hundred or more in its mouth at one time. Jim Gilbert’s Minnesota Nature Notes 2008 pp 157.