June may be among coldest

Even though the heat is coming, June's overall average temperature likely will end up well below normal.

"Probably when I get figures for the whole month, it'll be among the top 10 coolest for the whole state," said Kathryn Vreeland, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center in Ithaca. "It has to get really hot at this point to make a difference."

According to temperatures recorded so far for the month at the Watertown Airport, June is 3.4 degrees below normal. Temperatures taken in Gouverneur show the month to date is 3.9 degrees below normal, Ms. Vreeland said.

So far, this is the third-coolest June in Gouverneur since 1937 and the fifth-coldest in Jefferson County since 1949.

Global warming, she said, isn't always about being warm.

"The whole thing with the climate is that no matter what's happening, there's going to be variation," Ms. Vreeland said.

The region also is behind in an agricultural weather category called "growing degree days," which are based on the average of the daily maximum and minimum temperatures compared with a base temperature. According to figures supplied by Michael E. Hunter, field crops extension educator, Jefferson County had 442 growing degree days from May 1 to June 18, compared with its 25-year average for the same period of 515.7 growing degree days.

"I was a little surprised we lost so much time the first two weeks in June," Mr. Hunter said.

As a result, the corn crop hasn't taken off.

"It's not real tall," Mr. Hunter said. "It doesn't look like we'd like to see it two weeks before the Fourth of July."

The situation is just as poor in St. Lawrence County, Potsdam farmer Jon R. Greenwood said.

"This is the farthest behind our corn has ever been," he said. "We need some heat."

Dry hay production also has been a challenge.

"We haven't had a lot of rainfall, but we've had these pesky little showers," Mr. Hunter said. "If you haven't gotten the first cutting off, the quality is dropping every day."

Rainfall has been scant despite many days of predicted showers and overcast skies.

The Watertown airport recorded 0.98 inches of rain this month, compared with a normal rainfall for the month of 2.84 inches. In Gouverneur, rainfall was measured at 1.48 inches, compared with the 3.18 inches that are normal, Ms. Vreeland said.

Over the next few days, temperatures are supposed to rise into the 80s, with nighttime lows in the 60s.

"By Wednesday, we'll all be complaining it's too hot," Mr. Hunter said. "The corn crop will definitely like it."