June was all wet -- but below average for rain

It rained 16 days in June, with thunderstorms on nine days.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
T WAS ANOTHER WET MONTH FOR the Mahoning Valley, but the area's precipitation amount for June was below average.
The National Weather Service in Cleveland reports 3.46 inches of rain fell on the Valley in June. The average precipitation for the area in June is 3.91 inches.
Last month, it rained 16 out of 30 days, with thunderstorms on nine days. The greatest accumulation for the month was 1.03 inches June 24-25.
Other months
Through the first six months of the year, 22.14 inches of precipitation fell in the Valley.
That's about 4 inches above the average precipitation for the area during a year's first six months. On average, 18.23 inches of precipitation is recorded in the area during the first six months.
The Valley is also well ahead of last year's precipitation figure of 17.98 inches through June. In 2003, 46.01 inches of precipitation was recorded in the Valley, the fifth-wettest year for the area in recorded weather history.
Of that amount, 10.4 inches fell in July 2003, the wettest July for the Valley in weather history, which dates back to the early 1940s.
The official Valley precipitation count is taken by the NWS at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.
NWS officials say the service's long-range forecast calls for normal precipitation for July and August. But they warn that the Valley could expect a few major rainstorms from time to time, though it is doubtful they would be as strong as last July's.
Precipitation in the Valley is measured by the NWS, which uses a rain gauge at the airport. Rainfall is a straight measurement; an inch of rain equals an inch of precipitation. Because snow is considerably less moist than rain, about 10 inches of snow is typically equal to 1 inch of precipitation.
Last month, the high temperature was 88 degrees on the 9th, and the low temperature was 40 degrees on the 20th. The mean temperature for June was 64.6 degrees -- 1.3 degrees cooler than normal for the month.
skolnick@vindy.com