Now that we've wrapped up what struck a lot of us as a pretty toasty June, we can fully summarize the numbers that show it ranked as one of the warmest on record at the Raleigh-Durham airport. At least in the last few days of the month, the low and mid 90s-range temperatures were paired with dew points that hovered in the upper 40s to mid-50s, indicating low humidity levels that mitigated the discomfort associated with the heat.

At any rate, here's how the numbers ended up. We averaged 78.3 degrees for the June just ended, which is 3.6 degrees above normal. That normal is 74.7 degrees, based on the 30-year mean for the period 1971-2000, and the standard deviation associated with that statistic is +/- 2.3 degrees.

For comparison purposes, the coolest June on record at RDU was 1979, when the average temperature was 69.8 degrees, while we just had our warmest June ever one year ago, with the 2008 average of 80.7 topping the 66-year list. This year's 78.3 comes in fifth.

Another...

In case you missed it, there was some big news in the weather this weekend.  On Saturday, NASA launched the latest in a series of weather satellites, known as GOES-O.  It will make some maneuvers before taking a "geostationary" position some 22,000 miles up above the earth's surface.  Engineers will conduct about six months' worth of tests before the satellite is ready for use.

The total cost of the GOES-O mission, including the launch: about half a billion dollars.

Meteorologists use the satellites to track storm systems, take measurements of temperature and moisture throughout the atmosphere, and a host of other tasks.  Previous GOES birds are also responsible for all of the satellite pictures you see here on WRAL.com as well as on TV.

Interesting fact: GOES-O is part of a global search and rescue system, created to detect emergency signals transmitted...

It’s going to be a scorcher of a weekend. That’s something we’ll be able to say many times the next couple of months. Even so, I’m ready to talk about my favorite spots to keep cool over the summer. Lots of folks will be traveling during the next week for 4th of July vacations.

If you are headed to the mountains, one of my favorite cool spots is near Brevard. Highway 276 heads north from Brevard up to the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Pisgah National Forest. This pretty stretch of road winds past some of North Carolina’s “coolest” natural attractions.

The first one you come to right beside the road is Looking Glass Falls. It’s a 60-foot drop with steps to the pool below. You can swim in the pool or just feel the mist from the falls.

Next stop is Sliding Rock. It’s a natural 60-foot waterslide that ends in a 7 foot...

For this week's Web Weather Wednesday, I had the chance to visit with Dr. Matt Parker from NC State University.  He and a cadre of meteorology students participated in the VORTEX2 project this spring, driving thousands of miles and sleeping in some pretty "sketchy" places some nights.  Their goal?  Learn more about tornadoes so we can better track and predict them.

It was a fascinating discussion, and I learned quite a bit.  Take a look, and you'll learn more about the project and NCSU's part in it, how many miles they drove during the project, and something about what five weeks of life on the road is like.

Next week, we'll be talking flood insurance with 5 On Your Side's Monica Laliberte.  If you think you don't need it -- you may need to think again!

...and the lightning strikes!" 

Or so the now-famous ditty by Garth Brooks says.  Of course, it is the other way around — lightning first, then thunder — but that's a point for another post.

Today's message is all about lightning.  Did you know:

• 15 people have already been killed this year due to lightning strikes?
• 28 people were killed by lightning last year, and hundreds more were permanently injured?

Sad, but true, and all of these were 100% preventable.  That's why this week is Lightning Safety Week.  Spring and summer thunderstorms produce a lot of lightning, and people are more likely to be outside and away from shelter during these "outdoorsy" months.

During 2008, 100% (yes, all of them!) of the people killed by lightning were outside when they were struck, nearly a third were under a tree, and more than a quarter were on or near the water.  When lightning is a possibility,...