June became very warm in the second week of the month, with the average temperature jumping a degree and a half over the first week and two full degrees above the average for the whole month.
The average temperature now stands at 20.5 degrees Celsius, up from 19.0 C at the beginning of the month and well above the normal for the entire month of 18.6 C. In lockstep with the rising average temperature, the corn heat unit (CHU) count is accumulating nicely, with 314 CHU so far in June with the normal accumulation being 655 CHU for the entire month. The total CHUs since the start on May 16 has now reached 729 CHU, the result being that the rows of corn and soybeans are jumping in height across the Valley. Asparagus is done and strawberries are out in the farm market stands.
A welcome amount of rain fell in the second week of June, after a drier-than-normal end of May. There has now been a total of 37 millimetres of rain, which is slightly below average. Only a little bit fell on Expo Ormstown on the first three days, and that was late Saturday night, which was great for the parade and the crowds – Sunday was a different matter, but we’ll cover that next week.
The forecast for the rest of the month is much cooler, with most days below average for temperature and frequent shower and rain activity throughout.