Did last month seem more like spring to you? It did to weather experts in Colorado. June in saw the fifth latest occurrence of 90 degree days since the 1980s, according to the Weather Service.
"One of the biggest things that stood out was just how much cooler than average it was compared to what we've become used to in June," said Becky Bollinger of the Colorado Climate Center. "This is the first June we've had that's been below average temperature-wise since 2009."
There was also slightly more rain than usual during June.
"We're kind of seeing a pattern where it's becoming increasingly common to have later summer temperatures in the earlier summer," Bollinger said. "We are definitely seeing a shift in that pattern to warmer than average Junes if we consider an average from the 1981 to 2010 time period."
This June didn't stick to that pattern. Colorado didn't hit 90 degrees until the last week of June.
In general, this year has been cooler than average, especially compared to last year where the state experienced record heat in many areas, Bollinger said.
Cool weather and snowfall late in May also caused the snowpack to stick around longer than usual. Bollinger said the snowpack is usually melted off by early to mid June, but this year it persisted through the end of the month reaching more than 400 percent of normal.
"The numbers got really wonky there, and there was a lot of interest in why those numbers looked that way," Bollinger said. "It was really just we're not used to it sticking around this late."
Most of the snowpack has melted over the last couple of weeks, she said.
