June has become wet, very wet, with not only rain and showers, but thunderstorms with heavy downpours. What was, a week ago, a slightly drier-than-normal month, has become a soaking wet one with puddles – lakes – in many fields.
There were 100 millimetres of rain in the third week of June, bringing the total to 137 mm for the month, which is 217 per cent above normal for the first three weeks of the month. There are reports that nearby Saint-Constant received 100 mm in one day when an “atmospheric river” stopped overhead and let loose.
The average temperature declined slightly from the first half of the month but still managed to stay above average. The average temperature dropped almost a degree over the third week but still stayed above the normal at 19.8 degrees Celsius. Normal for the whole month of June is 18.6 C.
In lock step with the above-average temperature, the corn heat unit (CHU) count is accumulating nicely, with 474 CHU so far in June: 38 CHU ahead on a prorated basis of the normal accumulation of 655 CHU for the entire month. The total CHUs since the start on May 16 has now reached 789 CHU, resulting in rows of corn and soybeans jumping in height across the Valley.
The forecast for the rest of the month is cooler than normal with frequent shower and rain activity throughout.