A Look Back at June 2021 Weather

For a written June 2021 climate summary, please visit our website at www.weather.gov/media/gjt/ClimateSummaries/June2021_ClimateSummary.pdf --------------------------------- June started out unseasonably warm and dry as high pressure remained overhead for the first several days of the month. Critical fire weather conditions returned for the second week with Red Flag Warnings in effect for much of eastern Utah and the lower valleys of western Colorado. Numerous record high temperatures were set between June 14-18 as a large area of high pressure settled across the Desert Southwest. This continued dry and hot weather saw several wildfires start and rapidly spread across the area. Some relief finally returned to the Western Slope during the last couple weeks of June as subtropical moisture advected into the region. Dry lightning and gusty outflow winds were common with showers and thunderstorms for the first few days before wetting rains returned to the region. June 24th saw flash flooding occur northeast of Montrose, Colorado as an average of 1.75 inches of rain fell in less than 2 hours. The Grizzly Creek Fire burn scar in Glenwood Canyon saw two consecutive days of debris flows as a result of heavy rains. These flows were so impactful that Interstate 70 was shut down for an extended period of time due to cleanup operations by the Department of Transportation. June was either drier or wetter than normal depending on your location as 6 out of the 10 automated stations found at airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado ended the month with below normal precipitation. June was generally warmer than normal across the region with mean temperatures ranging from 3 to 6 degrees above normal. --------------------------------- Please note that all data mentioned is collected from our automated observing stations from 10 different airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado. Some of our cooperative observers in more remote areas may have measured warmer or colder temperatures, or more or less precipitation than what was mentioned in this summary. --------------------------------- National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office Grand Junction, CO