Monsoon showers developed over the Four Corner States, curbing the wildfire threat and providing local drought relief. However, hot, dry weather persisted in California and the western Great Basin, where several fires continued to burn.Mostly dry weather also prevailed in the Northwest, where weekly temperatures averaged as much as 8 degrees F above normal.Northwestern heat favored winter wheat maturation and initial harvesting, and the rapid development of spring-sown crops.Heat also hastened winter wheat maturation and harvesting on the northern Plains, where temperatures peaked near 100 degrees F.However, worsening drought continued to stress the northern Plains' spring wheat.Elsewhere on the Plains, widespread showers and thunderstorms provided some relief to drought-stressed pastures and summer crops.Rain was heaviest, totaling 2 inches or more, in some locations from northern Texas to western Nebraska.Scattered showers also dotted the Corn Belt, although the upper Midwest stayed mostly dry. Midwestern temperatures and soil moisture reserves remained generally favorable for silking corn and blooming soybeans, except in drought-affected areas of the western Corn Belt.Elsewhere, locally heavy showers maintained wet conditions in the Mid-Atlantic States and the western GulfCoast region, but eased dryness in southern Florida and the central GulfCoastStates.In contrast, rain was still needed elsewhere in the South, from Georgia and Florida's panhandle westward, to prevent additional crop stress.
The Southwestern monsoon, defined by a sustained increase in dew point temperatures, arrived a few days early.In Arizona, Tucson's monsoon onset date was June 28, compared with the 1949-2005 average of July 3.Similarly, Phoenix, AZ, reported a monsoon onset date of July 2, compared with the long-term average of July 7.In New Mexico, Albuquerque netted precipitation totaling just 0.71 inch (22 percent of normal) during the 179-day period from January 1 - June 28, but received 0.74 inch on June 29; 0.69 inch on July 6; and 0.99 inch on July 8.Elsewhere in New Mexico, nearly 5 inches of rain pelted Tucumcari on July 6.Despite the diminishing wildfire threat in the Southwest, the Nation's year-to-date acreage topped 4 million (205 percent of the 10-year average) on July 8.
Locally heavy showers also expanded across the eastern Great Basin and the central Rockies and adjacent High Plains.In Wyoming, Cheyenne's 1.92-inch total on July 3 represented its greatest calendar-day rainfall since a record-setting, 6.06-inch deluge on August 1, 1985.It was also Cheyenne's third-wettest July day behind 3.65 inches on July 15, 1896, and 3.41 inches on July 19, 1973.A few days later in Nevada, daily-record totals for July 6 included 0.95 inch in Ely and 0.68 inch in Elko.Meanwhile in South Dakota, the first half of 2006 was the driest on record in locations such as Mobridge (2.23 inches, or 25 percent of normal) and TimberLake (3.61 inches, or 35 percent).
Elsewhere, locally heavy showers peppered the South and East, resulting in daily-record totals in locations such as Jackson, MS (2.93 inches on July 5), and Danville, VA (3.92 inches on July 5). Fort Myers, FL, netted 4.79 inches of rain in a 24-hour period on July 6-7 en route to a weekly total of 8.56 inches.In Texas, Beaumont-Port Arthur received 8.66 inches from July 2-6, including daily-record totals on July 3 (4.99 inches) and 6 (1.42 inches). Elsewhere in Texas, Amarillo's 3.27-inch sum on July 5 marked its wettest day since July 29, 1997, when 3.47 inches fell.In addition, McAllen, TX, collected a daily-record rainfall of 2.69 inches on July 3, representing 58 percent of its year-to-date (January 1 - July 8) total of 4.63 inches (45 percent of normal).
Record warmth in the Northwest and early-week heat across the South contrasted with a surge of cool air across the Plains and Midwest. On July 2, daily-record highs reached 100 degrees F in Tupelo, MS, and Kennewick, WA.Heat persisted in California through week's end, when Stockton (103 degrees F and Modesto (102 degrees F) posted daily record-tying highs for July 8.Farther east, record lows for July 6 included 51 degrees F in Norfolk, NE, and 52 degrees F in Ottumwa, IA.A day later, Springfield, IL (53 degrees F), also notched a record low.By week's end, cool air reached the South, where record lows for July 8 were established in locations such as Fayetteville, AR (51 degrees F), and Macon, GA (59 degrees F).
Mild weather (temperatures as much as 5 degrees F above normal) in southwestern Alaska contrasted with near- to below-normal readings elsewhere in the State.Showers dotted interior Alaska, but mostly dry weather prevailed farther south.July 1-8 rainfall totaled 0.04 inch (3 percent of normal) in Kodiak but reached 1.48 inches (370 percent) in Fairbanks.Most (1.33 inches) of Fairbanks' rain fell from July 5-7.Meanwhile, generally light rain fell in Hawaii, where July 1-8 totals at the State's major observation sites ranged from 0.01 inch (2 percent of normal) in Lihue, Kauai,to 1.64 inches (64 percent) in Hilo, on the BigIsland.Elsewhere on the BigIsland, Glenwood collected 2.34 inches in a 48-hour period from July 7-9.