Mount Joy Snowman

Sauss, I have to quibble with you here, I believe we set the record at 69 that day, or are you talking about your own personal readings and not the official MDT data? Yes, I'm annoying haha. Funny enough, that November actually ended up quite cold at 4.5 degrees below normal and also contained the Thanksgiving slop storm where I got 3.5" of snow (I believe maybe more to the north and west?). Also that's the month where Buffalo received the historic lake effect event of 5-7 feet of snow. I'll stop now.

I figured as much. I mean, this is a weather message board after all, I can't be the only nut on here ha.

Not to get the masses all riled up again but MDT only bottomed out at 59 last night. I hit 54.

Well, I do, let's not lump everyone else in with my level of weirdness haha. Anyone else out there keep track of their weather data? Admittedly, I only track precip, not temps, and then I add notes to describe any type of abnormal or extreme events. I still have to use NWS when it comes to day-to-day temps.

You're right in that the humidity just seemed like it wouldn't quit last year. However, June was within one degree of average and only had three days hit 90. August was three degrees above average, driven primarily by warm nights from the aforementioned humidity. A couple of notes from my spreadsheet for those months, for the few who care ha..... On June 3rd we had a derecho come through in the afternoon from which Reading recorded an 83mph gust. That was also my first 90 degree day of the year. August ended up being a very wet month at my house, with a total of 8.34". On August 3-4, Tropical Storm Isaias passed over the PA/NJ border and brought 5-8" to parts of eastern PA, only 2.3" for me. Some training tropical downpours rolled through on August 7th that brought perhaps some of my heaviest rates ever witnessed, with .5" falling in 5 minutes, .8" in 10 mins, and ~1.4" in 20 mins.

The national low temp for the Lower 48 last night was 32 at Saranac Lake, NY. Outside of the occasional Mt. Washington coup, this is a rare feat for the eastern U.S.

I see what you did there

Correct, topping out at 100 on the 19th. To answer Sauss's inquiry, we went 93-97-94-96-97 from July 2-6 last year at MDT. On the final day of that heat wave I had a T'storm that dropped 1/2" in ten minutes. Last year set the record for hottest July ever at Harrisburg (avg. temp of 82.2, breaking the 81.8 from 1999), including a record 22 days above 90. Lancaster was also the hottest July on record. Edit: Also the temp never got below 67 for the entire month.

Hit 52 last night, another perfect ten on tap.

Shut it all down, this comment wins the Internet for the day.

Great points. I've been to Arizona a couple times to visit my grandparents in Cave Creek but haven't made it any farther north than Sedona, which is beautiful by the way.

I just know it from following college football over the years and whenever Washington State (located in Pullman, WA) was playing at home they would refer to them as being "out on The Palouse".

The Palouse!

Ha well I'm a bit of of a PA geography goon. One of my great claims to fame is being able to write the names of all 67 counties on a blank map. I know I know, I'm pretty special.

Looks like there are at least four active stations on Weather Underground near the Dalmatia/Pillow area. Here is one...... https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KPADALMA7

Hey how do you think we get all those awesome Death Valley readings!

Back to some current weather talk......gonna be a beautiful few days, high pressure in control, enjoy it boys! (or ladies if there are any lurking out there)

Oh don't I know it, but MDT seems to be a particularly egregious example of it.

It really is haha, and just generally, even prior to that period, it seemed like a complete shit show of record keeping for Harrisburg. Aye aye aye.

Clear as mud haha.....also here is my favorite part, so basically we weren't getting accurate snow measurements at MDT until 2010 sheesh..... ASOS was commissioned on March 31st, 1995, which brings us to the present. The ASOS unit was placed at a distance of approximately 600 meters northwest of the KMDT tower. ASOS does not measure snow and for years the maintenance department measured snow to keep the snow records/climatology going. The maintenance people were busiest during snow storms though, and the measurements were low on their list of priorities. Therefore, the measurements were often taken well after the last flakes had fallen and the wind had increased enough to make measuring the new snow fall difficult. The measurements were, at times, unreliable as a result. On February 8th, 2010, the Observing Program Leader from the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in State College (CTP) provided the equipment and the training necessary to the FAA-contracted weather office in the Middletown Tower and the reliability of snowfall measurements returned. The HIA/KMDT site is the current Local Climatological Data (LCD) site for Harrisburg, PA.

Found it! https://www.weather.gov/media/ctp/ClimateStationHistory/Harrisburg LCD Site History.pdf

Oh yes I completely believe their readings, just frustrated that a microclimate like that with a number of unusual influences gets to be the official record keeper and climate bearer of our entire local region. It's just not very representative of the region at-large, but hey, nothing we can do about it.

Indeed it is usually the lows that run high. I posted an article a while back detailing the history of the Harrisburg climate site and just how much it's moved around, will have to see if I can find it.

The other annoying thing with MDT.........take last night for instance, which seemed to be a bit of an inversion night and explains why I dropped to 48 despite some stations right near me but higher up only hitting ~52, and why @mahantango#1 dipped to 42. Well, MDT would normally be a perfect spot to capture those inversion temps, being so low-lying right off the ridges and all, but it seems to be completely negated by some combo of the damn airport/river presence. All I know is they always stay warmer than surrounding locations, always. I digress....

It really is. I bottomed out at 48 here at a low spot in Lancaster, which looks to be the same as KLNS and KRDG. Heck, even Capital City hit 48 for a brief 5-minute interval and spent a good bit of time at 50. Gotta love that MDT represents our "official" climate to the world. I know it's been beaten to death but it really is frustrating.