June marks the official beginning of summer, with the solstice occurring this year at 11:16 a.m. June 21.
The start of summer also brings more thunderstorms to Denver and eastern Colorado. On average in June, there are 9.9 days in which a thunderstorm is reported in metro Denver. Severe thunderstorms also are most frequent during June. Over 40 percent of all tornadoes reported in Colorado occur in June. Some of the most notable and destructive severe weather episodes in Denver’s history have happened this month. These include tornadoes that struck southeast Denver on June 8, 1986, and east Denver on June 13, 1984.
Hot temperatures also start to become more common. A record high for the month of 102 degrees was set on June 14, 2006. This is the earliest day in Denver history that the high temperature was in triple digits. Seven of the last eight days of June have a record high in excess of 100 degrees.
In 2010, there were nine days that had a high temperature above 90 degrees, which is four more than normal. A total of 1.6 inches of precipitation fell in June last year, 0.04 inches above normal.
