Stormstown

Summary of Autumn 2021

BillLeave a comment

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: 20

Max T: 85.7 F – September 18, 2021

Min T: 20.2 F – November 24, 2021

Sep Dep from Normal: 1.4 F

Oct Dep from Normal: 6.4 F

Nov Dep from Normal: -2.6 F

Heating Degree Days: 1146

Cooling Degree Days: 120

Sep Precip: 6.82″, 2.84″ above normal

Oct Precip: 3.40″, 0.06″ above normal

Nov Precip: 1.45″, 1.79″ below normal

November 2021 Weather Summary

BillLeave a comment

November was 2.6 deg F below normal for temperature. The high for the month was 69.0 deg. F, recorded on November 9. The low for the month was 20.2 deg F, recorded on November 24. There were 20 days at or below 32 F and 0 days when the maximum temperature was at or below 32 F. There were 774 heating degree days and 1 cooling degree day.

November was a below-normal month for precipitation with 1.45 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 1.79 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 0.96 inches recorded on November 12. There were 9 days of rain >.01 in, 2 >.10 in and 0 > 1 in. There was also 1.2 inches of snow this month.

High wind speed of 37 mph on November 26.

November 2021 Data

September 2021 Weather Summary

Bill1 Comment

September was 1.4 deg F above normal for temperature. The high for the month was 85.7 deg. F recorded on September 18. The low for the month was 42.1 deg F, recorded on September 30. There were 0 days at or above 90 deg F and 0 days at or below 32 deg F. There were 120 heating degree days and 91 cooling degree days.

September had 6.82 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 2.84 inches above normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 1.96 inches recorded on September 1. There were 8 days of rain >.01 in, 8 >.10 in and 3 > 1 in.

High wind speed of 28 mph on September 28.

September 2021 Data

Summary 0f Summer 2021

Bill1 Comment

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: 7

Max T: 92.3 F – August 12, 2021

Min T: 41.4 F – June 23, 2021

Jun Dep from Normal: 1.0

Jul Dep from Normal: -0.4 F

Aug Dep from Normal: 1.8 F

Heating Degree Days: 117

Cooling Degree Days: 657

Jun Precip: 6.42″, 2.56″ above normal  

Jul Precip: 3.08″, 0.38″ below normal  

Aug Precip: 5.02″, 0.88″ above normal  

The main event of the summer were the passage of the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred, on August 18, which yielded 2.26 inches of rainfall.

PA 550 Speed Limit

Bill1 Comment

Someone has set up a petition on change.org to increase the speed limit on PA 550 to 55 m.p.h. The petition states:

“The speed limit on PA route 550 south is too low and should be increased to 55mph. A large portion of motorists already consistently drive over 50mph on 550 daily and by increasing the speed limit the road would be made safer as the speed limit would more closely resemble the speed motorists actually travel on the road. This would also likely eliminate most tailgating and strings of traffic behind someone going ‘exactly 45 THE WHOLE WAY DOWN 550.’”

As of this posting, 22 people have signed the petition.

PA 550 is a rural highway that runs from Zion, PA to near Tyrone, PA. The petition does not state which section of the highway it is addressing, or mention that the current posted speed limits are not consistent along its length (35 m.p.h. in Stormstown, 25 m.p.h. in Bellefonte, and above 45 in Huntingdon County). Nor does it mention the no passing zones for much of its length, the limited sight distances, sharp curves, the presence of slow moving farm equipment, or wildlife crossing the highway.

The argument stated in the petition is a logical fallacy. Just because “everyone” is exceeding the speed limit is not a valid argument for increasing it. As stated above there are too many potential hazards to warrant an increase to 55 mph.

April 2021 Weather Summary

BillLeave a comment

April was 1.2 F above normal for temperature. The high for the month was 82.5 F, recorded on April 27. The low for the month was 21.7 F, recorded on April 2. There were 5 days at or below 32 F. There were 446 heating degree days and 22 cooling degrees day.

April was a below-normal month for precipitation with 2.27 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 1.12 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 0.90 inches recorded on April 11. There were 11 days of rain >.01 in, 4 >.10 in and 0 > 1 in.

It snowed enough to leave a trace on the ground on April 2 and April 22. The last freeze was April 22.

High wind speed of 46 mph on April 30.

April 2021 Data

There is a developing drought in northwestern Pennsylvania. It has also been abnormally dry in western PA. Our region has been below normal for rainfall for the year.

January 2021 Weather Summary

BillLeave a comment

January started with freezing rain on the first. On, January 3, I measured 3″ of snow. There was more freezing rain on January 26. On January 31, 2 inches of snow had fallen with more to come.

January was 2.6 deg F above normal for temperature. The high for the month was 48.4 deg. F, recorded on January 14. The low for the month was 12.6 deg F, recorded on January 21. There were 30 days at or below 32 F and 5 days when the maximum temperature was at or below 32 F. There were 1064 heating degree days and 0 cooling degree days.

January was a below-normal month for precipitation with 1.05 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 2.06 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 0.36 inches recorded on January 15. There were 12 days of rain >.01 in, 3 >.10 in and 0 > 1 in.

High wind speed of 32 mph on January 2.

January 2021 Data

Outlook for February 2021

December 2020 Weather Summary

BillLeave a comment

December was 0.8 deg F above normal for temperature. The high for the month was 55.3 deg. F, recorded on December 11. The low for the month was 12.9 deg F, recorded on December 19. There were 25 days when the minimum temperature was at or below 32 F and 5 days when the maximum temperature was at or below 32 F. There were 1003 heating degree days and 0 cooling degree days.

December was a near-normal month for precipitation with 3.03 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 0.10 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 1.88 inches recorded on December 24. There were 12 days of rain >.01 in, 5 >.10 in and 1 > 1 in.

High wind speed of 36 mph on December 2.

Snowfall on December 16-17: 15.5 inches

December 2020 Data

Outlook for January 2021

The drought in Centre County is essentially over.

Summary of Autumn 2020

BillLeave a comment

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: 10

Max T: 85.9 F – September 8, 2020

Min T: 22.0 F – November 19, 2020

Sep Dep from Normal: -0.4 F

Oct Dep from Normal: 1.0 F

Nov Dep from Normal: 3.7F

Heating Degree Days: 1176

Cooling Degree Days: 117

Sep Precip: 2.61″, 1.37″ below normal

Oct Precip: 2.96″, 0.38″ below normal

Nov Precip: 3.44″, 0.20″ above normal

The outlook for Winter 2020:

October 2020 Weather Summary

Bill1 Comment

October was 1.0 deg F above normal for temperature. The high for the month was 80.6 deg. F recorded on October 22. The low for the month was 27.7 deg F, recorded on Oct 17. There were 0 days at or above 90 deg F and 1 day at or below 32 deg F. There were 412 heating degree days and 21 cooling degree days.

The drought continued into October with below normal precipitation of 2.96 inches of rainfall recorded, which was 0.38 inches below normal. The maximum rainfall in a single day was 1.16 inches recorded on October 29. There were 15 days of rain >.01 in, 8 >.10 in and 1 > 1 in.

High wind speed of 37 mph on October 7.

October 2020 Data

Outlook for November 2020