Wishes for fair weather ahead
As we end 2019 and begin the New Year, we extend wishes for a great weather year to all our readers. May your winter be mild, spring early, summer pleasant and fall colorful?
Looking back over 2019 and considering all the extreme weather that plagued the country, we fared pretty well in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It was a bit on the rainy side with another year of above normal rainfall, but a lot less than last year when the all-time record for rainfall was broken throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. Most places in 2018 had an excess of 15 inches above normal. This year the excess was more on the order of 10 inches although a few places exceeded the ten-inch mark and several also were somewhat below that level. Rainfall does vary and I can recall a Uniontown downpour of over 4 inches this summer; while just a few miles away here at Chalk Hill we recorded just 1.54 inches. Usually the mountains, due to the increased elevation, receive more rain than lower elevations; however this year, a number of storms dropped their heavy rains over the lower elevations and closer to the Ohio border.
Ten of our 12 months saw temperatures above average and this continues a warming trend that has occurred over the last decade. You may recall a chilly March this past spring when our temperature was 3 degrees below normal and November with its cold mornings producing an average of 3.7 below normal. The other 10 months all saw temperatures above normal with May being the warmest with an average of 5.9 degrees above average. September was also warm averaging 5.7 degrees above average. December had plenty of chilly mornings, but some nice fair weather during the last half of the month brought us an abundance of sunny pleasant days. The month ended with an average 3.8 above normal. The high for December was 66 degrees and the low recorded was 9 degrees, respectively.
Summer was on the pleasant side with warm temperatures and plenty of sunny nice days and cool evenings. We did manage 12 days with 90 degrees or better, which is a few above our normal. Ample rainfall along with the warm temperatures produced a nice fall harvest. We did have a few humid spells, but for the most part, the humid air was chased away by some refreshing cooler and drier air that came south out of Canada before we started complaining about the heat and humidity. Unfortunately, the fall colors were a bit of a disappointment as they came on late again this year and the show quickly faded when some wind and rain knocked a lot of the late coloring leaves to the ground. It appears that the changing climate has delayed the colors by some 10 days at least over the past decade.
Not to forget, but we did have a visit from the 鈥淧olar Vortex鈥� last January and this produced a few zero and below zero mornings; but overall, the winter was on mild side and snowfall also was below the winter average of 40 inches. We did have one good snow that brought the area to a standstill, but a few days later the mild air returned and the snow quickly melted.
Looking ahead, we should see a bit of snow this coming week, but so far the predictions for the winter are hitting the mark with periods of mild and rain followed by some cold and snow.