ChescoWx

It looks like a great stretch of late summer weather with temps over the next week running within a couple degrees of normal. Our next shot at some rain looks to be toward Tuesday here in Chester County.

Here in East Nantmeal I ended with 2.73" of rain. We are now back up to 1.13" above normal precipitation so far here in 2022. Today will be a bit gloomy with some light showers that are backing in off the ocean from the northeast. The on shore flow will keep most spots in the upper 60's today - our normal high for today is 79.0.

We have certainly received that much needed rainfall with 2.55" so far in East Nantmeal with 0.11" falling before midnight. Some other Chester County rainfall amounts so far include Elverson 2.00" / Marsh Creek at 2.64" / Downingtown (Hawk Hill) 2.66" and KMQS airport 1.95". We have a chance to set a new daily rainfall record which is 2.96" set back in 2008.

Another nice day in Sea Isle with a Phillies banner flying....now if they would only mix in a win today!!

Interesting data review below from Chris Martz. "There has been NO measurable increase in the average per year number of days ≥90°, ≥95° and ≥100° across all 69 long-term, open northeastern GHCN stations I analyzed for this data"

Our record high for today is 101 degrees set back in 1953. The record low was 45 degrees from 1994. The daily rainfall record is 2.40" from 1963.

Wow!! The reaction and response to this post which I also placed on my Chester County Facebook site with my now ~4,000 followers is beyond ridiculous!!! I have received 61 emails in the last 3 hours to my chescowx.com email asking me why Cecily Tynan (from Channel 6 in philly) who retweeted the above 50 year change in the US yesterday failed to go back further in the NWS data set to illustrate. I clarified that the data I presented is strictly based on the NWS COOP sites in Chester County (without any assumption around worldwide or national views) and I assume it may be because she gets her data feed from their contract with AccuWeather and to expect she may be forthcoming with data from PHL that focuses on KPHL and the longer term Philadelphia climate set....which might slightly tweak the US National view that she posted yesterday. I love how many folks in addition to the weather weenies on this site love the weather!! We are all so lucky!!

Below is an analysis of the long term changes in temperature for Summer (June-August) for all available NWS Chester County Coop sites for the last 11 decades. There is a clear cyclical flow. I saw Cecily Tynan posted a chart last night that only showed since 1970...which she usually does. When we post the longer term data it becomes clearer the ebb and flow of temps since we had reliable thermometers in the 1880's/1890's. The 1930's represent the warmest departure by far.

A nice but unfortunately dry Labor Day weekend on tap with temps running in the low to mid 80's - which is several degrees above normal for the first week of September here in Chester County PA. Rain chances will be on the increase by Labor Day evening with showers likely by Monday night into Tuesday. Our record high for today is a searing 101 degrees set back in 1953. The record low today is the 45 degrees today in 1994. The daily rainfall record was the 2.40" from 1963.

This may change later as the NWS is aware of the sensor problem at PHL...

Just a perfect day out there today! Of note today back in 2017 we recorded the earliest high temperature that stayed below 60 degrees in Chester County with history back to 1894.

Except not in the philly burbs of Quakertown, Glenmoore , Pottstown and Coatesville - where in the burbs are any NWS Coop obs that show it was anything more than a very normal average temp summer??

What I posted for August is pretty well aligned to that it was a hot one!....now summer....not so much that was the point of the post - plus don't forget the major climate sites (many UHI airports) help drive those NOAA stats

Sorry CoolHand! I really do appreciate your obs and all here!! - you seem to have an excellent grip on your siting and no doubt your obs are top notch!! keep those obs coming - thanks!!. I bet with your siting while I will run cooler during the day you will likely have colder nights with your valley type location. I have the same issue with winds as I am a bit down surrounded by some higher hills all around me. Thanks again and take care! Paul

Hi Redsky, if we just stick to the climate facts it looks like it might be you too?? (see below for Quakertown) In addition to the other 2 COOP/ASOS NWS observation sites available for Western Chester County - they both align well between all 3 summer observations as you can see - this is why it is reliable. Please share your daily observation files from June 1 through August 31 and I will do some analysis. Just a quick FYI for you - I just ran the climate data for Quakertown for the same time period...what do you know the summer ended with an average temperature of 73.7 that compares almost exactly to both the Glenmoore obs also at 73.7 / KMQS at 73.4 and East Nantmeal at 72.1 - where is that heat island in Upper Bucks you speak of?? Just the facts Paul

Hi Mike, the locations I mentioned with relative long consecutive data points are Glenmoore, KMQS and Coatesville/East Nantmeal. It looks like inland toward Pittsburgh also experienced near normal summer readings (see below) The key is to get away from the UHI issues at KPHL and other airports along the NE coastal plain. I know the NWS is looking into the PHL sensor problems. Does your 42 days of 90+ make you question how you could have 42 days....while KPHL at sea level has 46 days yet KPTW has only 10 days and KMQS only 9 days? What is your elevation again? Is your sensor sited in the sun? does it have a solar shield and or a fan aspirated system if it is in the sun? If not it should be located on the north - shady side of your house and away from direct sunlight. There is a site in Reading at 1000ft that has recorded not a single 90 degree reading all year. I am guessing you must be below 200 feet to even approach the KPHL heat island numbers?

Except it is far from just me....it is all of the NWS coop observation sites that report in one half of one of the biggest counties in SE PA....Keep in mind PHL airport is even less representative of the actual weather in SE PA than all of the NWS locations in Western Chesco.....they are a heat island report in the middle of a swamp 12 feet above sea level where no one lives.....my 3 sites are unique observations for a lot of folks and obviously it is NOT just me...Just trying to keep it real!

Sorry birds they are the only weather facts we have here in Western Chesco and they are all incredibly aligned for 3 distinct locations -2 with data back between 66 and 129 years - not saying where you live was not somehow hot this summer. Where I am and other observers near me recorded - it was simply a normal summer and certainly far from anywhere near a hot summer based on NWS historical observations. Just the facts as always here!! But please share your local data that shows how hot it was - thanks again!! Paul

Hey folks, Happy September!! With August being the end of the full summer months I thought I would share both the August weather stats and the summer months (June-July-August) combined averages for the summer specific to the sites that cover Western Chester County PA. This August was our warmest summer month compared to average across all 3 longer term climate observation sites (East Nantmeal / Glenmoore and KMQS GO Carlson Airport )for Western Chester County PA. August finished at 73.6 at East Nantmeal which was good for the 43rd warmest August across 129 years of data. Glenmoore at 75.5 was the 18th warmest August with 66 years of records. KMQS finished at 75.2 which was the 2nd warmest across only 15 years of data. Now, while some may have felt that the summer was hot...in reality at least here in Western Chester County the data across all 3 sites was incredibly consistent and almost an exactly average middle of the road summer regarding our average temperatures! That said as our farmers and green thumbs know rain wise it was a tad on the dry side - more on that below. Average Summer Temperatures - East Nantmeal - 72.1 degrees (+0.1 degree above normal) for the 73rd warmest summer of 129 years / Glenmoore - 73.7 degrees (also +0.1 degrees above normal) good for the 32nd warmest summer out of 66 years. Lastly, KMQS with only 15 years of data - average temp 73.4 degrees (+0.3 degrees above normal) - 7th warmest in last 15 years. Rainfall wise EN at 11.82" which is 1.61" below normal. Glenmoore at almost the same with 11.75" which is only 1.66" below normal. KMQS has only 9.34" of rain during those summer months.

A very disappointing paltry 0.08" of rain with last evening's frontal passage here in East Nantmeal. A nice stretch of near normal weather is on the way. Can open up the windows for a few days starting today. Low humidity and overnight temps in the 50's for much of the county. The next chance of rain will be Sunday night into Labor Day. The record high for today is 101 degrees from 1953. Our record low is 42 degrees in 1934. Daily rainfall record is 3.60" from 1911.

After a strong chance of storms tonight with the cold frontal passage...temps will cool to near normal for the rest of the work week. Of note while it has seemed hot this month...we are likely to only finish about 1 degree above normal for the month of August. Overall the summer months of (June-July-August) also look to finish not too far from a normal summer. I will have those final stats on Thursday as we start the month of September. The record high for today is 100 degrees set in 1953. Our record low was a chilly 39 degrees back in 1986. The daily rainfall record is the 3.40" that fell today in 1946.

A couple more above normal temp days before a cold front swings through the county tomorrow night. Temperatures by Wednesday should be just about normal with highs in the upper 70's to around 80 and night time lows in the mid to upper 50's as we head into the holiday weekend. Our record high today is 98 from 1953. The record low is 40 degrees in 1925. The daily rain record is 1.57" from 1950.

Some spots could see a shower across the county today. With temps through Wednesday remaining above our normal high this week of around 80 degrees. Of note down in Philadelphia at the PHL airport they are in the middle of their 5th "heat wave" (3 or more 90 degree days in a row) of the summer. Yesterday was their 43rd day over 90 degrees this summer. To contrast the 3 closest airports near Chester County - Coatesville (9 days) / Pottstown (10 days) West Chester (17 days) combined have seen only 36 such days! Of course here in East Nantmeal we have still seen but 1 day all summer that has reached the 90 degree mark. It seems to me we should tell our neighbors down in the big city that if they wish to avoid heat waves you don't have to go far....just to our backyards here in Chesco! Some interesting climate record notes for today in the county. Our record high is 98 degrees set in 1973. Our record low is 38 degrees set back in 1982. That low temperature is the earliest reading in the 30's ever recorded in the county with records now back to 1888. The daily rainfall record is the 3.23" that fell back in 2011.

Thanks Kevin! I appreciate that....there is another forum that is not a big fan of my analysis....

Overall this summer it has been one of the chilliest water temps in memory for many long time shore dwellers. Temps were in the 50's just 2 weeks ago. Plenty of up welling this year. Temp back down to 78 degrees today