June thunderstorms are a desert anomaly, and they aren't stopping
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Northern Utah is locked into a weekslong series of thunderstorms during what is typically the driest time of year — and it's just a happy weather anomaly, meteorologists say.
The big picture: The whole U.S. West is in the same pattern of unseasonable afternoon clouds and thunder — just as the region was pummeled by a long "parade of storms" during the record winter.
- "We're still in that same upper-level pattern where we're just keeping that moisture in place," said Christine Kruse, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City. "It's not dissimilar to what happened during the winter … where we just stayed in the storm track."
By the numbers: 16 of the past 20 days have brought at least some rain to Salt Lake City, NWS records show.
Why it matters: Even with the winter's record snowpack, Utah's reservoirs need replenishing after years of drought.
Reality check: The storms haven't brought much precipitation, Kruse said.
- The airport has seen just 0.64 inches since May 1 — less than a third of the average rainfall during that time frame for the past 32 years, records show.
- May, overall, was warmer than it's ever been.
Yes, but: It's taking a while to get really hot and dry, which could slow the evaporation that might have happened if conditions were like the past few years when early June temps were in the 100s.
- And Weather Underground records show humidity levels closer to what they were in the early- and mid-1990s.
The intrigue: There isn't one particular reason weather systems have "set up" to keep the moisture over the West for so long, Kruse said.
- El Niño and La Niña may play "a little bit" of a role she said, referring to how ocean temperature changes affect weather worldwide. After a wet La Niña winter, El Niño is back with warmer ocean temperatures, which can affect Utah's weather.
- But the effects of El Niño generally don't maximize in North America until fall and winter, and Utah is less susceptible to its big weather changes because it falls geographically between the warm, dry patterns that tend to develop north of us and the cool, wet trends to our south.
The bottom line: "Some years … high pressure will come through, high pressure will come back," which brings long stretches of clear weather, Kruse said. "This year, it's just a very persistent area of storminess across the West."
What's next: Another week of storms is coming, NWS reported.