Climate Summary

Temperature and Precipitation by climate division
Departures from Normal for June 2010 - based on preliminary data.

June 2010 in North Carolina was hot - record-breaking hot. June 2010 was the warmest June on record for many locations all across the state, including: Murphy, Banner Elk, Wilkesboro, Lenoir, Salisbury, Raleigh, Elizabethtown, New Bern, Kinston, Plymouth, Williamston, Lewiston, Edenton, and Roanoke Rapids. For most other monitoring stations, June 2010 ranked as one of the top 5 warmest on record. Statewide, June 2010 ranked as the 2nd warmest June on record (since 1895). Only June 1952 was warmer.

Precipitation in June was more mixed. Some regions experienced above normal rainfall (southern coastal plain) while others received less than half of normal rainfall (northern coastal plain). Most of the state was relatively dry – although almost everywhere experience locally heavy precipitation at one time of another. Such is summertime in North Carolina – thunderstorms bring heavy rain to some with others left dry. Statewide average precipitation in June 2010 ranked as the 28th driest since 1895.

Impacts to Agriculture and Water Resources

Precipitation for June 2010
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Precipitation for June 2010: Percent of Normal
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Impacts to Agriculture
Crops are starting to feel the heat, and the dry conditions. By the end of June, the NC Department of Agriculture was reporting that much of the state is experiencing inadequate soil moisture. If warm, dry conditions continue, crops will become stressed, which would likely include lower yields and increased pest risks for those that don't irrigate.

Impacts to Water Resources
Wetter conditions in the spring and timely rains have helped to maintain many reservoirs across the state. However, by the end of June many stream and groundwater reporting stations were showing low levels – the kind that keeps the NC Drought Management Advisory Council on alert. DO (abnormally dry) conditions have expanded as a result of the warm, drier conditions in June.

US Drought Monitor for North Carolina
Courtesy NC DENR Division of Water Resources

El Niño is Dead! Long live El Niño!

The El Niño event that contributed to our cold, wet winter is officially gone. El Niño is associated with warm ocean temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific, and is generally associated with cool, wet winters in North Carolina. Conditions are currently neutral, but forecasted to move toward La Niña by the late summer or early autumn. La Niña is the opposite phase, and is associated with colder ocean temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. La Niña tends to contribute to drier, warmer winters in NC. But there are other factors that can interact and influence our seasonal patterns, like the Arctic Oscillation (AO), PNA pattern, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Arctic Oscillation? PNA? PDO? I thought there was just El Niño!
While El Niño and La Niña (collectively called the El Niño / Southern Oscillation, or ENSO) are some of the dominant patterns that influence our seasonal climate, there are others that influence and interact with each other. ENSO is critical because we can actually forecast the ENSO phase several months in advance, but it's not the only ingredient. To help explain some of these influences on our seasonal and longer-term climate, we've introduced a new Global Patterns section on our web site (under Aspects of NC Climate). Visit and learn more about how these impact our climate in North Carolina.

New Charging Policy

As of July 1, we revised our data services charging policy. Most requests for data will remain free. Some customers may see an increase in the amount they are billed for climate services. Our old service fee was based on the costs of a much smaller center, fewer staff experts, less computational infrastructure and less capability. Today, your State Climate Office has much greater climate services capabilities, more expertise on staff to serve the climate information needs of our state, more computing infrastructure to house and disseminate climate information, and serves more people. In response to increased demand and client needs, two new services were added (rush service and certified service). For details, please see the charging policy.