Meteorological summer began on June 1st. In the weather world, summer is comprised of June, July and August. Astronomical summer begins on June 20 this year.
Hurricane season officially began on June 1st as well, and the remnants of tropical storm Alvin in the Pacific brought record rain to the desert southwest. Phoenix had more than an inch of rain, the most for the beginning of June in over 100 years. It was the first time Phoenix received any measurable rainfall on June 1st since 1914.
The northern lights made a strong showing across Big Sky Country and the northern United States, arriving earlier than expected. While Sunday night had colorful aurora activity, the geomagnetic storm was stronger on Saturday night. Forecasting the weather on planet Earth is difficult. So is forecasting weather from outer space.
Canadian wildfires continue to rage, with more than 3 million acres burned. Wildfire smoke extended across much of the central and eastern United States. Not only did Florida have Canadian wildfire smoke, dust from the Sahara Desert spread across the Sunshine State as well.
In Montana near Plains, the Banana Lake Fire quickly grew to over 850 acres with zero containment at the moment.
Across the pond in Italy, Mount Etna, Europe's most active stratovolcano, erupted with intense activity, a pyroclastic flow into an uninhabited valley, and toxic ash plumes and smoke, prompting evacuations there.
