Summer’s Here…Are the Big Storms Gone?

After an extended period of seemingly daily severe weather, things quieted down in time for summer’s arrival on Father’s Day. 

So are we finished with the stormy weather?  Yes and no.

Our “typical” summertime weather includes that ever-present chance for afternoon and evening showers or thunderstorms.  Typically, they’re pretty hit-and-miss, although they can get pretty gusty at times.  Enough heat causes the air to rise; combine plenty of moisture and the possibility of air being lifted even more by the mountain slopes, and it’s relatively easy to fire up a storm or two this time of year.

The weather pattern we were just in had the upper-level winds pointed our way, sending clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms at us in a more widespread manner.  Typically in summertime, these winds stay to our north, high pressure is more often in control, and the widespread strong to severe weather is harder to come by.

So we can never discount the threat for strong storms over the summer, but the likelihood of seeing the day-in, day-out rounds of damaging winds and hail are much lower. 

And if you’re looking for relief from the heat and humidity, it’s three months until fall…