Author: Bill

Summary of Autumn 2025

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Meteorological Autumn is officially over. Here is a brief summary of September 1-November 30 in Stormstown, PA:  

Number of days Max T >= 90 F: 0

Number of Days Max T <= 32 F: 0

Number of Days Min T <= 32 F: 21

The first freeze of the season occurred on October 10.

Max T: 88.5 F – September 19, 2025

Min T: 23.4 F – November 18, 2025

Sep Dep from Normal: 0.7 F

Oct Dep from Normal: -0.3 F

Nov Dep from Normal: -0.6 F

Heating Degree Days: 1305

Cooling Degree Days: 124

Sep Precip: 3.46″, 0.49″ below normal

Oct Precip: 3.26″, 0.20″ below normal

Nov Precip: 2.24″, 0.75″ below normal

The first snowfall of the season occurred on November 11.

November 2025 Weather Summary

Bill1 Comment
First snowfall of the season, November 11, 2025

November was 0.6 deg F below normal for temperature. The high for the month was 67.9 deg. F, recorded on November 5. The low for the month was 23.6 deg F, recorded on November 18. There were 16 days at or below 32 F. There were 731 heating degree days and 0 cooling degree days.

November was a below-normal month for precipitation with 2.24 inches of rainfall recorded, 0.75 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 0.52 inches recorded on November 11. There were 11 days of rain >.01 in, 6 >.10 in, and 0 > 1 in.

The first snowfall of the season was on November 11.

High wind speed of 39 mph on November 5.

November 2025 Data

Current Drought Data

Summary of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Bill1 Comment

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has ended. There were 13 named storms, 5 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes (>= 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale). There were no U.S. hurricane landfalls, and no hurricanes in The Gulf of America.

2025 Atlantic Hurricane Summary Table

TypeNameDatesMaximum Wind (knots)
Tropical StormAndrea23-24 June35
Tropical StormBarry28-30 June40
Tropical StormChantal4-7 July50
Tropical StormDexter3-6 August50
Major HurricaneErin11-22 August140
Tropical StormFernand23-27 Aug50
Major HurricaneGabrielle17-25 September120
Major HurricaneHumberto24 Sep-1 Oct140
HurricaneImelda27 Sep-2 Oct85
Tropical StormJerry7-11 October55
Subtropical StormKaren10 October40
Tropical StormLorenzo13-15 October50
Major HurricaneMelissa21-31 October160

October 2025 Weather Summary

Bill1 Comment
Taken from my quadcopter drone over Halfmoon Valley.

October was 0.3 deg F below normal for temperature. The high for the month was 81.6 deg. F recorded on October 6. The low for the month was 27.2 deg F, recorded on Oct 27. The first freeze of the season, 31.4 F, was recorded on October 10. There were 0 days at or above 90 deg F and 5 days at or below 32 deg F. There were 436 heating degree days and 20 cooling degree days.

October was below average for precipitation with 3.26 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 0.20 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 1.47 inches recorded on October 30. There were 8 days of rain >.01 in, 6 >.10 in and 1 > 1 inch.

High wind speed of 32 mph on October 31.

October 2025 Data

Drought Status

September 2025 Weather Summary

Bill1 Comment

September was near normal for temperature. The high for the month was 88.5 deg. F recorded on September 19. The low for the month was 36.5 deg F, recorded on September 8. There were 0 days at or above 90 deg F and 0 days at or below 32 deg F. There were 138 heating degree days and 104 cooling degree days.

September had 3.46 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 0.49 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 1.94 inches recorded on September 25. There were 6 days of rain >.01 in, 5 >.10 in, and 1 > 1 in. There were 15 consecutive days without measurable precipitation (Sep 7-21).

High wind speed of 28 mph on September 5.

September 2025 Data

Summary Of Summer 2025

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Meteorological Summer is officially over. Here is a brief summary of June 1-August 31 in Stormstown, PA:

Number of days Max T >= 90 F: 12

Max T: 95.0 F – June 24, 2025

Min T: 36.0 F – June 2, 2025

Jun Dep from Normal: 2.1 F

Jul Dep from Normal: 2.3 F

Aug Dep from Normal: -3.1 F

Heating Degree Days: 159

Cooling Degree Days: 682

Jun Precip: 5.81″, 1.72″ above normal  

Jul Precip: 5.30″, 1.51″ above normal

Aug Precip: 1.84″, 2.32″ below normal  

August 2025 Weather Summary

Bill1 Comment

August was 3.1 deg F below normal for temperature. The high for the month was 90.8 deg. F recorded on August 12. The low for the month was 39.4 deg F, recorded on August 30. There was 1 day at or above 90 deg F. There were 93 heating degree days and 165 cooling degree days.

August was a below-normal month for precipitation with 1.84 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 2.32 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 0.78 inches, recorded on August 20. There were 7 days of rain >.01 in, 3 >.10 in, and 0 >1 in.

There are areas of abnormally dry conditions in The Commonwealth:

High wind speed of 23 mph on August 29.

August 2025 Data

Shrimp Radioactivity Test

Bill1 Comment

There was recent news item about radioactive material contaminating frozen shrimp that was being shipped to Walmart stores.

The FDA recalled the shrimp after finding elevated levels of Cesium-137 in shipping containers at 4 U.S. ports. At least one shrimp sample contained a higher-than-expected level of Cs-137. It is likely that radiation was due to contaminated containers, not because of contaminated food products. The origin of the shrimp was Indonesia.

Cs-137 as a flexible, soft, and silvery-white metal that liquifies near room temperature. The radioisotope is a byproduct of nuclear reactions. Trace amounts of Cs-137 are detectable around the world in our food, soil, and air,

I decided to test a package of frozen shrimp I bought at a local Wegmans store. First, I checked the background reading: 0.07 microSieverts per hour, or 0.007 millirems per hour.

I then checked the shrimp package. I detected no significant change from the background reading.

The results are anecdotal, indeed, but interesting.

Clearwater Conservancy Groundbreaking Ceremony

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On August 5, 2025, Clearwater Conservancy held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of The Hamer Community Conservation Center.

The center is named after Donald Hamer (1925-2016), who cared deeply about the preservation of natural resources and generously donated his time and resources to environmental groups, including ClearWater Conservancy. Construction of the 10,392-square-foot, two-story center is scheduled for completion by mid-August 2026. The 10-acre construction site is located at 1601 Houserville Road in Houserville, PA.

Construction Site
Barbara Fisher

Clearwater founder Barbara Fisher explained how the organization originated from citizen efforts to stop a mall from being developed on farmland in Ferguson Township, which set the stage for the Tudek family to purchase and donate the land that became Tom Tudek Memorial Park. 

Speakers also included:

Clearwater President Donnan Stoicovy
Clearwater Executive Director Elizabeth Crisfield
State Representative Kerry A. Benninghoff

Also present were Centre County PA Senior Environmental Corps (CCPaSEC) Members: President William Smith, Vice President Carolyn Hatley, and Equipment Manager David DeCapria.

WTAJ News Coverage