CA's Coldest June In Years: Here's What To Expect

CALIFORNIA — A new temperature outlook for June points to an unusually cool start to summer in California.

The June temperature outlook from The Weather Company and its partner, Atmospheric G2, shows a cooler-than-normal start to summer in areas of the Southwest and above-average temperatures in the far northern tier of U.S. states.

For the Golden State, the forecast favors temperatures running colder than usual for June, potentially making for the coolest in four years and the second-coolest in nearly 15 years. That prediction lines up neatly with updated June outlooks released by the Climate Prediction Center at the end of May.

The expected shift from a La Niña to an El Niño climate pattern is partially influencing temperatures, according to Todd Crawford, the vice president of meteorology at Atmospheric G2 and the author of the outlook.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in March declared the end of a triple-dip La Niña the agency said had worsened drought conditions and increased hurricane activity in Atlantic states.

Crawford said the shift in the temperature pattern that began in May is likely to continue.

“This sudden pattern flip has resulted in the lowest May cooling demand nationally since 2016, and June appears as if it will start relatively cool as well, outside of the northern tier of states,” he said.

Generally, temperatures will be cooler than normal in the Southwest, which typically experiences its hottest weather in June ahead of the monsoon season, according to the outlook.

It also said odds favor a cooler-than-normal start to summer along the East Coast. A high ridge of pressure in place from Canada into the Northern Plains is expected to make for a hot start to summer in the Pacific Northwest to the upper Midwest and much of the Great Lakes.

Despite the cool start, longer-term predictions still favor a hotter-than-average summer across California and the entire West for the three-month period ending in August.