Last 3 Months Weather Summary article

[chescowx]

Hey guys,

Attached for those interested is my latest article for the local East Nantmeal Paper with weather highlights for NW Chester County PA over the last 3 months

 

Hello again from Paul at The Northwest Chester County PA Weather Station (www.chescowx.com) here in beautiful East Nantmeal Township. Be sure to follow me on twitter at Twitter as I am tweeting multiple daily climate reports, forecast updates and weather photos for our fair Township.

When I wrote my last article, we were just finishing the 1^st 10 days of March and in the midst of what would be the snowiest March in Chester County history. We had just had an 11.5” snowstorm on the 6^th and 7^th and this was followed up with the 4^th largest snowstorm in County history going back to 1894 with 13.5” of snow falling on the 21^st and 22^nd of March for the 1^st day of spring. The largest March snowstorm on record was the 19” of snow that fell on March 20, 1958. going all the way back to 1894! Overall for the month we finished up with 30.6” of snow, this crushed the old March Chester County snowfall record of 27.1” set way back in 1914. Overall March finished at 2.4 degrees below our normal temperature of 40.4 degrees. Our total precipitation including melted snow ended up at 5.15” which was 0.61” above normal.

April continued the cold stretch with our 5^th of the last 6 months dating back to November 2017 having below normal temperatures, this included our last snow event of the year when 2.5” of snow fell on April 2^nd. This brought our seasonal 2017-18 snow total up to 58.5” of snow which is over 22” above our normal seasons snowfall here in East Nantmeal of 36.4.” Our total snowfall this year represents the 12^th snowiest winter in Chester County PA history back to 1894.  My fearless winter forecast back in the fall predicted 50” of snow so with our record snowy March we ended up with even more than I had predicted. Of interest 4 of the top 12 snowiest winters have occurred in Chester County in just the last 15 years. Our last freezing temperature was recorded on April 21^st this was the 98^th below freezing reading during the winter season. We average 113 such days in a normal winter.

May saw a major pattern change from our cold pattern noted during most of the winter with the notable exception of February (our 2^nd warmest February on record). During May we even experienced our first 90 degree reading of the year on the 3^rd when we hit 90.3 degrees. The month was warm and also wet with the month finishing at 65.3 degrees or 4.6 degrees above normal and also with the 6.31” of rain almost 2” above normal. This wet pattern has continued into early June with rain falling on the 1^st five days of the month. YTD rainfall through June 7^th stands at 26.99” which is 5.59” above normal – this is great news for our Township farmers.

Going forward I expect most of June to remain relatively cool and wet but look for much drier and warmer weather as we move into mid and late summer. Weather always does have a way of balancing out. While it will clearly get warm during the next few months be sure to keep in mind that despite what you will see reported on local news outlets of upwards of 25 plus days that exceed the 90-degree mark at the Philadelphia airport…do not expect such readings here in the relatively high elevations of East Nantmeal Township. We average only about 5 such days here, in fact in the last 15 years we have had 3 years (2004, 2014 and 2015) with not one day that hit the 90 mark and only 1 such day last year here in NW Chester County.

I hope all of you have a great summer!  If you have any questions, please visit my website, follow me on twitter and send me an email. Until next time –All the best!  Paul

“Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise” Ben Franklin