June 2026 - Weather and Climate Review for the Capital Region

June 2026 Weather Highlights at Albany

• Slightly warmer than average: Monthly mean temperature of 69.0 degrees (+0.6)
• Tied with June 1991 for 36th warmest on record to date in the Albany area
• Highest Dewpoint: 73 at 8pm on June 11th
• Highest Heat Index: 98 at 4pm on June 12th
• 2 Days with highs of 90 degrees or higher
• Highest Temperature: 92 on the 12th
• Just about average rainfall: 4.09” of rain (+0.04”)
• 24 hour rainfall record set on the 14th: 1.65”
• 4 thunderstorm days at Albany
• Significant Severe Weather Events on the 18th and 30th
• Localized Severe Weather Events on the 6th, 11th, and 12th
• EF1 Tornado in Otsego County from Pittsfield to near Morris on the 30th
• Unusually gusty for June, 10 days with peak gusts of 30+ mph, with gusts of 40+ on three of those days
• Peak June Wind Gust: 45 mph from the west on June 18th (gradient wind)

June 2026 featured a lot of weather variability across eastern New York and western New England with some early summer warmth from the 3rd through the 14th along with numerous pleasant low humidity days which lead to very comfortable nights, to a an active thunderstorm pattern that featured several rounds of severe storms, two events that were widespread and significant on the 18th and again on the 30th.

While temperatures averaged a little above normal, largely driven by the warmth through the first two weeks with 90 degree days on the 11th and 12th, the second half of the month, mainly from the 15th through the 25th, came in cooler than average almost balancing out the very warm conditions earlier in the month.

Two days in June at Albany came in with highs of 90 degrees or higher, seventeen days with highs in the 80s, eight days with highs in the 70s, and three particularly cool days with highs only in the 60s. The morning of the 2nd was unusually chilly with temperatures dropping back into the 30s in some communities.

Overall June 2026 at Albany came in with a monthly mean temperatures of 69.0 degrees which is 0.6 degrees warmer than the 1991-2020 thirty year average.

An unlike June 2025, where frequent incursions of Canadian wildfire smoke occurred, skies this June were almost entirely smoke free, with the exception of the 29th when a very thin layer of highly elevated smoke gave the sky a slight tint and lead to a particularly vibrant sunset in the evening.

June 2026 observed high and low temperatures for Albany

13 of June’s days at Albany came in cooler than average, 16 warmer than average, and one right at average. The swings from warm to cool were not extreme with only three days, the 10th, 11th, and 12th, significantly warmer than average (departures of +10 degrees or greater.) Only the 22nd was significantly cooler than average with the chill driven by a widespread rain. (A daily mean temperature is calculated by adding the observed high and low temperature for any day then dividing by two. That value is then compared to the thirty year average mean temperature for a day to calculate the degree to which any day was warmer or cooler than average.)

June 2026 daily temperature departures from the 1991-2020 thirty year mean temperature at Albany — Bar Chart

June 2026 daily temperature departures from the 1991-2020 thirty year mean temperature at Albany — Absolute values

Slightly warmer than average conditions were observed at the four other local climate sites in June 2026 with Poughkeepsie the warmest compared to average with a monthly departure of +1.3 degree. (Low soil moisture compared to the rest of the region in the mid Hudson Valley due to moderate drought conditions in that part of the area contributed to the higher temperatures.

Monthly mean temperatures and departures from the 1991-2020 thirty year average at the five local climate sites

JUNE AND LONG TERM CLIMATE WARMING IN THE CAPITAL REGION

Human induced climate change, largely through greenhouse gas emissions, chiefly carbon dioxide, has increased the odds of June, as well as the rest of the months in the year, of being warmer than average as was the case in 2026.

June on average now is 4.0 degrees warmer in the Capital Region than it was in 1970. The chart below from our partners at Climate Central which plots the June monthly mean temperature per year from 1970 through 2025 highlights the warming. The graph illustrates the year to year variability of the weather with both cool and warm Junes, which is typical, but also shows the slow and steady upward temperature trend over time. Colder weather patterns in June are over time less cold while warmer June weather patterns are steadily getting warmer. If the climate was stable, the trend line would be flat.

Climate Central: June warming over time — data from 1970-2025

THE STORM PATTERN and RAINFALL

June’s most notable weather story was its active severe weather pattern with two major regional events on the 18th and 30th with the event on the 18th leaving tens of thousands of local utility customers without power. There were also three additional more localized severe weather events on the 6th, with some reports of tree and power line damage across Warren, Rutland, and Bennington counties as well as Greene, Ulster, Dutchess, and Litchfield Counties, the 11th when southern Columbia, Dutchess and Litchfield counties were impacted, and on the 12th when an isolated microburst downed some trees and took the roof off the town salt shed in Hartford, Washington County.

Rainfall was distributed across numerous spaced out events rather than one prolonged wet stretch, with several beneficial soaking rains occurring during the middle and latter portions of the month. A late-night thunderstorm event on June 14th produced a daily rainfall record of 1.65” at Albany with most of that rain falling within an hour to an hour and a half with additional widespread rains on June 22nd and again during the final week helped maintain favorable soil moisture heading into July. Drier than average conditions, however, were prevalent across the mid Hudson Valley in June with below average rainfall across southern Vermont and the Berkshires as well.

And to the delight of many, aside from the 14th, wet weather was either very limited or non existent on the weekends across much of the area.

Overall half of June’s days were completely dry with measurable rain (0.01” or greater) on eleven days at Albany.

The month came in with 4.09” of rain which was 0.04” above the 1991-2020 thirty year average.

June 2026 daily observed rainfall at Albany

June 2026 rainfall amounts and departures from average for the local climate sites

• Glens Falls
  3.62” (-0.10”)
• Poughkeepsie
  Data Missing
• Bennington, VT
  1.59” (-1.59”)
• Pittsfield, MA
  3.61” (-0.97”)

Moderate drought conditions developed in June 2026 across the Berkshires and mid Hudson Valley where rainfall amounts through the month were considerably lighter compared to the rest of the local area. However, With rainfall more widespread and generous in the Capital Region, western Catskills, Schoharie and Mohawk valleys, Adirondacks, Lake George-Saratoga Region, favorable soil moistures and ground water supplies were maintained with no drought issues.

Local drought conditions at the end of June 2026