The village that is now called Stormstown was located on one of the area’s earliest roads. Laid out in 1791-92, the road served as a main route for the shipment of Centre County iron west to Pittsburgh. First settler Abraham Elder’s tavern, on the east end of the village, was a stopping place for iron haulers. In 1812 David Storm recorded a plat of 30 lots, plus a school lot, that he named Walkerville, on the west side of present-day Municipal Lane in the middle of Stormstown. The origin of the Walker connection has not yet been tracked down. Some twenty years after Walkerville was established, Caleb Way slowly started selling off lots between Walkerville and the former site of Elder’ tavern, in an area that was briefly called Wayville. Eventually, by the time of the Civil War, the whole area was called Stormstown. The enterprises of the village included a gristmill, sawmill, distillery, tannery, wagon maker, and several craftsmen’s shops – blacksmith, weaver, potter, and chairmaker. An Easter fire in 1867 destroyed twenty-six buildings, many of which were never rebuilt. – See more at: http://www.centrehistory.org/abcs-of-centre-county/#sthash.RLS2TFw7.dpuf
Stormstown Has Passed The 50-inch Mark
The total annual rainfall for Stormstown has passed the 50-inch mark today.
This is already roughly 15 inches more rainfall than each of the previous two years.
October 2018 Weather Summary
October was near normal for temperature with a monthly mean that was 1.5 deg. F above normal. The high for the month was 85.2 deg. F recorded on October 7. The low for the month was 28.3 deg F, recorded on October 25, the first freeze of the season. There were 423 heating degree days.
October was also a normal month for precipitation with 3.55 inches of rainfall recorded. This was 0.27 inches above normal and has contributed to a 14.00 inch surplus for 2018. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 0.97 inches recorded on October 27. There were 14 days of rain >.01 in, 9 >.1 in and 0 >1 in.
The outlook for November.
My Personal Weather Station
If you haven’t figured out by now, I am a retired meteorologist. I have installed my own weather instruments at my home in Stormstown. My primary station consists of a cluster of sensors for The Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station.
Pictured is the tipping bucket rain gauge, thermometer, hygrometer, solar sensor, UV sensor and data transmitter. The transmitter has a battery that is charged by a small solar panel. The spikes are a deterrent to birds that can foul the rain gauge.
On a 30′ mast, near the instrument package, are a wind vane and anemometer.
Data are transmitted to my indoor displays. One of my displays has a data logger with a wired connection to an internet router.
With software, supplied by Davis, my data is downloaded to a PC for storage and analysis. My data are also uploaded to Davis WeatherLink, Weather Underground and The Citizen Weather Observer Program.
My secondary instrument cluster is a BloomSky package. On the left is a solar-powered barometer, thermometer, hygrometer and UV sensor package. It also has a fisheye WiFi camera. On the right are a solar-powered anemometer, wind vane and tipping bucket rain gauge. Data are sent to my router via WiFi and uploaded to BloomSky.
Data are displayed via The BloomSky App as shown.
West Nile Virus
West Nile virus is back in the news.
Centre Daily Times – October 5, 2018
With the exceptional amount of rain over the summer in our local area (over 20 inches during the past 3 months), there are more hospitable environments for mosquitos, the main carriers of the virus. The West Nile virus is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds. Infected mosquitoes then spread West Nile virus to people and other animals by biting them.
West Nile is not spread:
- By coughing, sneezing, or touching.
- By touching live animals.
- From handling live or dead infected birds. Avoid bare-handed contact when handling any dead animal. If you are disposing of a dead bird, use gloves or double plastic bags to place the carcass in a garbage can.
- Through eating infected birds or animals. Always follow instructions for fully cooking meat from either birds or animals.
Symptoms
Most people infected with the West Nile virus have no signs or symptoms.
About 20 percent of people develop a mild infection called West Nile fever. Common signs and symptoms include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Body aches
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Fatigue
- Skin rash
Prevention
- Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out items that hold water, such as tires, buckets, planters, toys, pools, birdbaths, flowerpots, or trash containers.
- Use insect repellent with one of the active ingredients below. When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective.
- DEET
- Picaridin (known as KBR 3023 and icaridin outside the US)
- IR3535
- Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE)
- Para-menthane-diol (PMD)
- 2-undecanone
September 2018 Weather Summary
September was above normal for temperature with a monthly mean of 3.7 deg. F above normal. There were only two daily maximums at or above 90 deg F. The high for the month was 90.7 deg. F recorded on September 5. The low for the month was 42.4 deg F, recorded on September 30. There were 93 heating degree days.
September was extremely rainy with over 8.2 inches of rainfall recorded. This was 4.22 inches above normal for September and has contributed to a 13.79 inch surplus for 2018. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 2.33 inches recorded on September 10. There were 14 days of rain >.01 in, 11 >.1 in and 2 >1 in.
The outlook for October.
Seasonable temperatures and slightly above normal rainfall for central Pennsylvania.
Our Dog Family
We have four dogs now. We call them The Oreos Double Stuff.
This is Toby, our male Scottish Terrier, and is 3-years-old. He’s a bit of a kleptomaniac. He likes to steal shoes, gloves, etc. just to be chased. His other past time is barking at rabbits. He loves belly rubs. His dislikes are thunder and fireworks, and going to the vet. He’s shown in his favorite spot, under a bench on his bed.
This is Tillie, our female Scottish Terrier, who is also 3-years-old. She is the spokesdog of the group. Tillie will remind us when it’s mealtime, when to put on their lighted collars, and when our younger dogs are getting in trouble. She also serves as my alarm clock in the morning. One of her past times is chasing rabbits.
This is Trixie, our female West Highland Terrier. She likes to play tug-of-war and chasing her younger sibling. She also likes playing with our older Scotties. Right now, she is dealing with being a middle child. At roughly 20-months-old, she’s still a puppy at heart.
This is Tripper, our newest member of the family. He is a male West Highland Terrier and a spitfire. At 11-weeks-old, he’s already climbing stairs. He’s quite the talker as well. He likes to untie shoelaces and chasing his older sibling, Trixie.
The Outlook for Autumn 2018
Warm temperatures and normal rainfall expected for this Autumn.
Summary of Summer 2018
Meteorological Summer is officially over. Here is a brief summary of Jun 1-Aug 31 in Stormstown, PA:
Number of Days Max T >= 90 F: 6
Number of Days Max T >= 95 F: 0
Max T: 91.3 – July 3, 2018
Min T: 43.5.0 – June7, 2018
Jun Dep from Normal: -1.0
Jul Dep from Normal: -0.7
Aug Dep from Normal: 1.3
Heating Degree Days: 131
Cooling Degree Days: 590
Jun Precip: 4.70 “, 0.84” above normal
Jul Precip: 9.14″, 5.68″ above normal
Aug Precip: 5.52″, 1.38″ above normal
August 2018 Weather Summary
August was a slightly warm month for temperature. The monthly mean was 1.3 deg. F above normal. There were only two daily maximums at or above 90 deg F. The high for the month was 90.8 deg. F recorded on August 29. The low for the month was 49.0 deg F, recorded on August 24. There were 17 heating degree days.
August was rainy, but lower than July, with over 5 inches of rainfall recorded. This was over 1.38 inches above normal for August and has contributed to a 9 inch surplus for 2018. There were 13 days of rain >.01 in, 9 >.1 in and 1 >1 in. Highest single day’s rainfall was 2.01 inches.
July 2018 Weather Summary
July was a normal month for temperature. The monthly mean was 0.7 deg. F below normal. There were only three daily maximums at or above 90 deg F. The high for the month was 91.3 deg. F recorded on July 3. The low for the month was 49.1 deg F, recorded on July 8. There were 37.9 heating degree days.
July was very rainy with over 9 inches of rainfall recorded. This was over 5.5 inches above normal for July and has contributed to an 8 inch surplus for 2018. There were 15 days of rain >.01 in, 13 >.1 in and 3 >1 in. Highest single day’s rainfall was 1.23 inches.
