June Is The New July In Vermont

A hot, steamy day in Burlington, Vermont in 2018.  In June
we've re-written the heat records of June in recent years. 

I noticed quite a June trend in recent years in the weather record books for Burlington, Vermont.

The last several years have totally transformed the listed record highs in the second half of June.

The National Weather Service has been keeping track of the weather in Burlington since the 1880a.  records.

Over the more than 100 years from around 1885 to 1994, the warmest it ever got in Burlington during June was 96 degrees.

Since 1994 just the last quarter century or so, it has gotten to 96 degrees in June at least another 11 times including twice last week.

And let's not even talk about the record for longest June heat wave - six days in a row - set just this past week.

We've almost totally re-written the record book for June highs since 1991. In the last 14 days of June, eight of the daily record highs have been set just since 2007.  All but one of the record highs in that period came after 1990.

We tied the record for the second hottest reading in Burlington with a high of 100 degrees on June 19,1995.  It was only the third day on record it had been 100 degrees in the Queen City

We still get record daily lows in Burlington, of course.  I did find a single recent daily record low in June -  a reading of 36 degrees on June 2, 2003. But other than that, I can't find a daily record low in June newer than one set on June 24, 1988 when it was 40 degrees.

Consistent with climate change, daily record highs have been exceeding record lows, though of course you can still get cold snaps in a warmer world.

By my quick count - and somebody can check this if they'd like - I see 29 daily record highs tied or broken in Burlington since July 1 2017 and just five record lows tied or broken.

We're not expecting any record highs or lows in the next few days, of course. But fasten your seat belts, we're sure to have more record warm episodes to come.