All Activity

Grass should start burning end of the week.

Thanks Mike!! It looks like there is t-max and t-min starting pretty consistently for West Chester starting late in 1873. I will try to add this to my data set and run some reports! This is great!! If you can find any other stations from before 1894 let me know!

I had a request to update the "heatwave" stats to something potentially more meaningful. Which is 3 or more consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures above the 90th and 95th percentile for all Chester County Stations. The below rank summary makes the absolute-vs-relative divergence concrete. Sorted by absolute rank, the biggest movers are the 2010s (11th → 4th) and 2020s (13th → 6th), both rising 7 places once heat is judged against each station's own norm — meaning recent decades have been locally extreme even though they weren't absolutely record-hot. Going the other way, the 1960s (−4) and 1990s (−5) fall under the relative lens, and the 1940s slip from 1st to 3rd. The 1930s hold firm near the top under both definitions, and the 1950s actually take the #1 spot under P90

I had a request to update the "heatwave" stats to something potentially more meaningful. Which is 3 or more consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures above the 90th and 95th percentile for all Chester County Stations. The below rank summary makes the absolute-vs-relative divergence concrete. Sorted by absolute rank, the biggest movers are the 2010s (11th → 4th) and 2020s (13th → 6th), both rising 7 places once heat is judged against each station's own norm — meaning recent decades have been locally extreme even though they weren't absolutely record-hot. Going the other way, the 1960s (−4) and 1990s (−5) fall under the relative lens, and the 1940s slip from 1st to 3rd. The 1930s hold firm near the top under both definitions, and the 1950s actually take the #1 spot under P90

I had a request to update the "heatwave" stats to something potentially more meaningful. Which is 3 or more consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures above the 90th and 95th percentile for all Chester County Stations. The below rank summary makes the absolute-vs-relative divergence concrete. Sorted by absolute rank, the biggest movers are the 2010s (11th → 4th) and 2020s (13th → 6th), both rising 7 places once heat is judged against each station's own norm — meaning recent decades have been locally extreme even though they weren't absolutely record-hot. Going the other way, the 1960s (−4) and 1990s (−5) fall under the relative lens, and the 1940s slip from 1st to 3rd. The 1930s hold firm near the top under both definitions, and the 1950s actually take the #1 spot under P90

Great pool weather.

Had a window seat at Red Rose on Main Street when it went though and posted about the hail. just about everone in the restaurant was looking out the windows when it was whipping, it was quite exciting for a minute or two, there was quite a bit of foliage flying around from the wind and hail. Had a few route detours due to downed trees and emergency vehicle calls we had to navigate on way back from dinner.

Oh good, a return to base state At least we put a good dent in the drought. I suppose we take a breather before the STJ on steroids gets going.

Heat advisory up for today. More humid an expected it seems.

Those don’t happen anymore.

Last measurable rain here was 8/1, .20" Last night's line evaporated just to the west. Made for some nice breezes though.

The NWPAC is sure going strong so far this season (S-T-D 204% of avg ACE), but so far the E/CPAC is just about avg S-T-D. Typically, this basin is near record active in a very strong El Nino year. 1982 30 depressions and 23 of those NS. HI had one its few hurricane direct hits from Iwa this season. 1997 24 depressions and 19 of those became NS (Linda this season was the most intense EPAC TC until Patricia in 2015). 2015 31 depressions (a record), 26 of them NS, (tied its record), 16 hurricanes, and set a new record w/ 11 major hurricanes. However, 1991 was close to avg, so it shows not every very strong El Nino results in the same sensible wx in a region every time. And 1991 for the Atlantic only had 35 ACE, which is the 6th lowest ACE for this basin since the satellite era began. A general rule of thumb I use is that when he Atlantic is active, the EPAC is typically inactive, and vice-versa, but it does not work every time! Also, it is hard for every TC basin in the world to be suppressed in active in a given year. At least one is above avg when all other can be below. However, 1977 was a year when it was suppressed globally in all TC basins.

Greenfield has had 7”+ the past 10 days. Weird precip distro this year.

Almost seems like an aspect of a more monsoonal type climate when the highest annual temperatures occur earlier before the heavier rains arrive.

It’s easier to cheer for other people’s good fortune after you’ve had at least a taste

Continued warm and humid through Tuesday before we start a welcome cooling trend which by Saturday morning will see some locations with lows in the 50's with highs by the end of the week in the pleasant 70's. Best chances of any rain will be Monday night through Wednesday

Continued warm and humid through Tuesday before we start a welcome cooling trend which by Saturday morning will see some locations with lows in the 50's with highs by the end of the week in the pleasant 70's. Best chances of any rain will be Monday night through Wednesday

"Atmosphere accomplishment?" Great term! Alliteration to boot! Last year, all the hurricanes except Melissa got strong and peaked in intensity outside the deep tropics (N of ~20N). Even Melissa struggled w/ shear for 4 days before getting its act together. And in 2024, the same thing occurred basically (Beryl the only classic MDR system). The MDR has had some issues in recent years, even when the overall pattern has been quite favorable for an active season. And besides Beryl, no long-tracked, classic Cabo Verde hurricanes in 2024 or 2025. When I say "classic Cabo Verde", I am talking something like Isabel from 2003 or Ivan from 2004.

i wonder if it's because of increasing moisture

As opposed to what, *unnatural* rainfall? LOL. What narrow-minded curmudgeon weenie! We could get another 7/10/1989, and you'd still be like MEH!

zero rain yesterday except for a few drops.

I'm glad someone cashed in. Another day or near misses for me. That's been the story of the summer except for about a week stretch in July. With the looks of the coming Nino, we'll probably all tire of rain this winter. We'll see I guess.

Notable near miss 2021 8/12: 98 , 8/13 : 99 also 2016 8/13: 99 , 8/14: 98

Records: Highs: EWR: 105 (2001) NYC: 103 (2001) LGA: 104 (2001) JFK: 98 (2001) Lows: EWR: 58 (1944) NYC: 57 (1989) LGA: 61 (1962) JFK: 57 (1989) Historical: 1878 - The second most deadly tornado in New England history struck Wallingford CT killing 34 persons, injuring 100 others, and completely destroying thirty homes. The tornado started as a waterspout over a dam on the Quinnipiac River. It was 400 to 600 feet wide, and had a short path length of two miles. (The Weather Channel) 1918: One of the worst hot spells on record occurred in Washington, DC with an average high 99.6°F from 5th to 9th, 106° on 6th. (Ref. Washington Weather Records - KDCA) 1930: The temperature at Perryville, TN reached 113 °F to establish a state maximum temperature record for Tennessee. (Ref. Lowest and Highest Temperatures for the 50 States) 1959: The Richmond International Airport wasn't affected by this storm. It was the west end of Henrico County, VA that received the heavy rain causing flash flooding. The following reference has several pages of information about this storm. (Ref. Daily News Record Newspaper - Harrisonburg, Virginia) 1963: A severe thunderstorm with extremely strong winds struck Stillwater, OK during the night. At Stillwater Municipal Airport, wind speeds were measured between 92 and 115 mph for eight consecutive minutes, with a peak gust reaching 138 mph. The storm did an incredible amount of damage, especially to the Oklahoma State University campus. Winds caused widespread roof and tree damage, and broke windows out of about 130 automobiles. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History) 1969 - A tornado hit Cincinnati OH killing four persons and causing fifteen million dollars property damage. The tornado moved in a southeasterly direction at 40 to 50 mph. (The Weather Channel) 1974: New Jersey--One person was killed when struck by lightning at a rock concert at Atlantic City Race Course. (Ref. Lightning-The Underrated Killer.pdf) 1976: Hurricane Belle formed just to the northwest of the Bahamas on the 6th, rapidly intensified to a Category 3 southeast of North Carolina. Hurricane Belle then began to weaken, moving into western Long Island near Jones Beach as a minimal hurricane during the evening on this date. Hurricane warnings were extended to the coastal sections of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island where tides as high as 12 to 15 feet were expected. New York City measured a gust to 56 mph. Philadelphia, PA reported 0.51 inches of rain on the 8th, with an additional 1.17 inches on this date. The tide reached 8.8 feet above mean lower low water at Atlantic City, NJ, tying the level reached during the great coastal storm of 3/6/1962, and again reached during the "Perfect Storm" of 10/31/1991. Severe coastal flooding begins at 8.7 feet. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History) 1979: Major flooding occurred on the Lost Creek in West Virginia. Water up to 7 feet deep flooded the town of Clarksburg. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History) 1980: Severe lightning occurred across West Virginia. Two people were struck on a golf course near Vienna, WV. A person standing between the two victims was uninjured. 12 people were injured when lightning struck during a prayer service near Bluefield, WV. Hurricane Allen threatened the Texas coast. Air Force reconnaissance measured a very low central pressure of 909 millibars or 26.84 inches of mercury just in the very early morning hours with maximum sustained winds near 180 mph. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History) 1981: The current all-time record maximum temperature for Portland, OR is now 107 °F set on this date (Extreme Weather p. 276, by Christopher C. Burt) 1987 - Florida baked in the summer heat. Nine cities reported record high temperatures for the date, including Jacksonville with a reading of 101 degrees. Miami FL reported a record high of 98 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) 1988 - Tropical Storm Beryl deluged Biloxi with 6.32 inches of rain in 24 hours, and in three days drenched Pascagoula MS with 15.85 inches of rain. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms produced severe weather in the Southern Plains Region and over the Central High Plains Region. Thunderstorms in Oklahoma producedwind gusts to 92 mph at Harrah. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) 1989 - Evening thunderstorms in Arizona deluged Yuma with record torrential rains for the second time in two weeks. The rainfall total of 5.25 inches at the Yuma Quartermaster Depot established a state 24 hour record, and was nearly double the normal annual rainfall. Some of the homes were left with four feet of water in them. Seventy-six cities in the south central and eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Lake Charles LA equalled their record for August with a low of 61 degrees. Canaan Valley WV was the cold spot in the nation with a low of 32 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) 1992 - A tornado packing winds estimated between 113 and 157 mph caused significant damage to the town of Chester, South Dakota. Shortly after 7 pm CDT a tornado tore right through the heart of Chester causing considerable damage. Four businesses were destroyed, three others had significant damage, and five had minor damage. An elevator and new grain bin were leveled, and another bin was heavily damaged. Most of the building housing the fire department was demolished. Also, many houses and vehicles sustained damage, and large trees were uprooted or broken off. In one instance a steel beam was thrust through a garage and into the car inside. One mile north of Chester, an entire house was moved off the foundation. The town had to be evacuated for 19 hours after the tornado because the tornado damaged a 12,000-gallon ammonia tank releasing 4,000 gallons of the liquid gas into the air. The ammonia was a health hazard forcing residents out. To the south of Chester, the storm destroyed a new convenience store and blew two fuel tanks over 100 yards. 1997: Severe thunderstorms with very heavy rain began over central Mohave County around 12:30 AM and ended around 2:30 AM MST. Washes rapidly filled in the vicinity of Kingman and several roads were washed out. At least two cars were caught in a flooded wash and their four occupants had to be rescued by helicopter. Also, one woman was found dead hours later in a sewer drainage pond. It is unknown how she was caught in the flood waters. Another serious result occurred a few hours after the storms ended when a passenger train derailed while crossing a small bridge damaged and weakened by flood waters. Of the 302 passengers and crew members aboard, 116 were injured and of those eight sustained serious injuries. Further north, severe thunderstorms rolled across the western part of Las Vegas, NV producing damaging winds and hail. A trailer was destroyed and signs and roofs in the area received damage from both the wind and hail. 19,000 homes lost power for a few hours. The storms also produced local street flooding with rainfall amounts up to 0.73 inches in 15 minutes. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History) 2001: In New York, the temperature reached a record 103 degrees for the date while in neighboring Newark, N.J., it topped 105 degrees, the National Weather Service said. The old record in both cities was 100, set in 1949. Electricity demand was so high that lights flickered in New York when the metropolitan area suffered scattered outages. New York Gov. George Pataki ordered parking and admission fees waived at parks statewide. In New York City, municipal pools stayed open until 8 p.m. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani called on supervisors of city employees to use common sense in delegating responsibilities, saying that “strenuous work is not suggested at this time, unless it’s an absolute emergency.” In Boston, as temperatures approached a record 99, residents and tourists flocked to malls, museums, movie theaters or any place with air-conditioning. 2002: Washington, DC hits 98° and recorded their 8th consecutive day of 95 °F or higher, the longest such streak in recorded history at this time. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History) 2005: In Eau Claire, WI, a man was struck by lightning while unhooking a chain from a truck. He was taken to a hospital for observation because of “feeling hot,” but otherwise was unhurt. (Weather Guide Calendar with Phenomenal Weather Events 2011 Accord Pub. 2010, USA) 2016: August 9-16. Weak low pressure combined with abundant Gulf moisture produced phenomenal rainfall and flooding across central Louisiana, inundating entire neighborhoods and towns, especially around Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Rainfall totals exceeded 20 inches in as little as two days. Thirteen people died and economic costs ranged from $10 to $15 billion. 2020: In the morning of August 9 Tropical Storm Isaias spawned 8 tornadoes in the Northern Neck of Virginia. See the following two pages about this event.