In the Gulf of Mexico, rapid warming has occurred. The basin average is a robust warm +1.14C which is almost 1C warmer than one month ago. The Gulf of Mexico warming is likely attributed to the nearby Mexico heatwave and attendant strong upper-level subtropical ridge.

The severe weather outbreaks of the past 2 days produced a rare excessive amount of hail damage reports (538) centered on Texas yesterday and the Missouri Valley on Wednesday. Damaging wind was focused on the southeast quadrant of the U.S. while Wednesday’s tornadoes were mostly focused on Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri.

Yesterday’s severe weather outbreak across the Midwest States to the Carolinas was the strongest of 2024 so far. Featured were 575 severe weather reports of which 341 were damaging hail, roughly 60% of all reports.

The 2024 Europe selected cities cooling degree day (CDD) forecasts issued by Climate Impact Company (CIC) reveal that, on average, each month of the warm season ahead will produce CDD totals similar with the 10-year normal. The exception is May (cooler) and September (warmer).