June 2009: The second warmest on record in Houston

It's official-- June was hot!

With an average temperature of 85.6°, June 2009 was the second warmest* on record at Bush Intercontinental Airport.  It was warmer than June 1980 when the average temp was 85.1° and June 1998 when the average temp was 85.5°. By the way, the "average temperature" is a combination of the highs AND the lows.  The average high temperature was 96.7°.

* I previously wrote that 2009 was the warmest on record. But I got an email from the National Weather Service.  Apparently there was a mistake in their records.  Data from 1905-1907 was missing from the climate database. Once those records were added, it was revealed that 1906 was actually the hottest June on record with average temperature of 85.9°.

We topped 104° twice, June 24 and 26, which was the hottest temperature ever recorded in Houston during the month of June.  Altogether, we had seven consecutive triple digit days, another new record.

Rainfall totaled .27" at Bush IAH, which was -5.08" below normal.  June 2009 was the 4th driest on record.

Galveston was not as warm, although it was still much warmer than normal. The average temperature at Scholes Airport was 84.3° which ties with June 2005 for the 5th warmest on record. The hottest day on the island was also June 24, but the temperature was ten degrees cooler in Galveston than it was in Houston.

Only .32" of rain fell in Galveston last month. That's -3.72" below normal. June 2009 was the ninth driest on record.

Historically, when the summer starts off warm it usually stays warm. That doesn't mean we won't have some cool-ish days. But you should expect temperatures to average warmer than normal in July and August as well.