The June weather was “hotter than normal,” or was it?
June of 2025 marked the end of a busy storm season and the start of what looks to be a long, hot summer. June was warmer and drier than normal, but not excessively so.
The average high for the month was 90 degrees, which was near June’s norm of 90.7. The average low was 72 degrees, which was 3 degrees warmer than the normal low of 69. Once again, the diurnal (daily average) temperature was a full 1 degree warmer than normal entirely on the strength of warmer overnight lows. We’ll explore that further in a moment.
Rainfall of 2.34” was slightly below June’s normal average of 3.04 inches. All of June’s rainfall came in the first two weeks of the month. Denton’s Enterprise Airport recorded 1.25” on June 3 plus another .24” on the June 4 and 5. Another .12” fell on June 9 and 10, followed by .70” on June 14 and 15. So far this year (through June 24), Denton has recorded 20.7 inches of rain, which is 2 inches above the norm of 18.6”.
North Texas suffered widespread hail damage June 1; especially Tarrant County. Denton County had some high winds on June 3.
Currently, Denton’s average temperature and precipitation is compared against temperatures and precipitation from 1991 to 2020. In 2031, the oldest decade of 1991-2000 will roll off and the new decade of 2021-2030 will be factored in. So “Climate” is simply 30 years of what we call “weather.”
Nearly every data-point in the Northern Hemisphere is markedly warmer than the previous three decades. Are we making it warmer, (“Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming”)? Yes, but not for the reason you hear most often; industrial “greenhouse gas” emissions – specifically carbon dioxide.
Official observations are to be taken in the shade, two meters above an open unpaved acre of grass. But the “official” DFW observation site has changed locations several times. From 1898-1940, it was on top of the Federal Building in downtown Fort Worth, but it was moved to Meacham Field in the 1940s. In 1953, it was moved to Amon Carter Field/Greater Southwest International Airport. Since 1974, it’s been at DFW Airport, which used to run 2 degrees cooler than downtown Fort Worth and Dallas Love Field. But the “urban heat island,” (concrete runways, asphalt roads and buildings of steel and glass) soaks up solar radiation all day and releases heat at night. Also, 24-hour air conditioning is constantly pumping heat out of our homes every night. For those reasons, DFW frequently sets record “warm” overnight lows, but we rarely set new daytime high temperature records hotter than the mid 1930s and 1950s.
We’re not getting hotter. We’re getting warmer and mostly at night, which has less impact on our lives. So we all can rest easy tonight, but… I’ll rest easier at 70 degrees with the fan on.
Brad Barton is Chief Meteorologist of WBAP 820AM/93.3FM and 570 KLIF. You can follow Brad on Twitter @WBAP 24/7 News.
