ChescoWx

Inland vs. Shore just a wee bit different of a day

The record Chester County high temperature record for today is the 91 degrees on this date back in 1911. Our record low temperature was the 31 degrees in 1907. Record rainfall is 1.38" from 1974.

Yesterday was our 16th below normal day in the past 24 days. Today's record high is 93 degrees set back in 1896; our record low is the 28 degrees today in 1947. Record rainfall is the 1.30" in 1981.

Unfortunately my Tempest down the shore in Sea Isle is again not working. Fortunately, Tempest is now sending me my 3rd unit since December's install. The problem is I need to hire a handyman with a 45 foot ladder to get up on the roof to replace each time this happens....this is getting to be an expensive hobby! Install is scheduled for Thursday morning. That said the one on my roof in East Nantmeal has been perfect for well over 1 year. Anyone else on a 3rd unit at their location??

The record Western Chester County High for today is 94 degrees from way back in 1896. Our record low was the 27 degree reading from 1966. Record rainfall is the 1.76" in 1990.

UHI contamination remains a real problem and will only get worse as detailed below for some rural suburban sites vs. the PHL Airport...but at least we will continue to see our local weather folks continue to show plenty more 90+ days and heat waves for Philly at the official PHL station then we have ever seen before! As we are seeing a trend to less 90+ days outside of the UHI.....but of course non-stop increases at PHL

The record high for today is 93 degrees from way back in 1896. Our record low is 25 degrees set on this date in 1947. Record rainfall is 1.34" set in 1923. Should be a really nice week with near normal temps for a change. Enjoy but watch out for pollen increases this week!

Coldest start to the year in the USA since 2014....is the colder phase starting earlier than we think?

Storm total since Friday now up to 2.79" with 0.09" since midnight. Record high today is 91 degrees set back in 2000. Our record low is the 30 degrees on this date back in 1974. Record rainfall is 2.90" from 1992.

Another 0.45" so far since this morning. Storm total now up to 2.45" with 1.42" falling so far today. We are also at our low temperature for the day at 43.5. Our high of just 48.3 is a full 20 degrees below where we should be today.

0.85" of rain so far thru 7pm in East Nantmeal Twp in Chester County PA. Temp down to 49.2...exactly 2.00" of rain since yesterday in East Nantmeal, with 0.97" falling since midnight. The record high for today is 93 from way back in 1930 - our record low was the 28 degrees from 1974. Record rainfall is 2.90" set back in 1992. A couple of you had asked about the low maximum record for today....while we will likely stay in the 40's the record low max of 46 set back in 1967 will be safe. Our high temperature earlier this AM was 48.3 degrees.

0.85" of rain so far thru 7pm in East Nantmeal Twp in Chester County PA. Temp down to 49.2

Some Chester County average temperatures from January through April 2022 and the comparison to averages over the last 30 and 40 years. East Nantmeal has averaged 38.4 degrees. This is 0.8 degrees below the 30 year average / 0.2 degrees below the 40 year average. Glenmoore they have averaged only 37.5 degrees which is 0.2 degrees below the 30 year average and +0.2 vs. the 40 year average. Phoenixville has averaged 39.9 degrees which is exactly average over the last 30 years and +0.2 degrees over the last 40 years. Octoraro Lake has averaged 39.7 so far this year which is +0.6 vs. 30 years and +0.5 vs. 40 year averages.

Chester County daily records for today - Highest 91 degrees in 1934; Lowest 30 degrees back in 1968. Our record rain (will we break this one?) 1.57" from this day back in 1989.

The record high for today is the 90 degree reading on this date in 1919. Our record Chester County low was the 28 degrees back in 1926. Our record rain for today was set just 3 years ago today when we recorded 1.49" of rain.

April ended as the 48th coldest in 129 years of local Chester County PA climate data with an average temperature of just 49.8 degrees (1.5 degree below normal). The highest temperature was 80.6 on the 14th and the lowest was the 30.0 degree reading on the 18th. We recorded 2 sub freezing low temps on both the 18th and the last time on the 20th. For the season we have recorded 95 days with sub freezing temps. Normal is 115 days. There was no snow recorded in April - our average April snow total is 1.0" - this was our 4th consecutive April without any measurable snowfall. We ended the 2021-22 winter season with only 20.5" of snow - which is 15.7" below our normal seasonal snowfall of 36.2" across Chester County. Rainfall for the month was 5.93" (+1.91" above normal). Year to date rainfall stands at 15.79" which is 0.36" above normal.

Still no freezes since April 20th here in the higher spots of Chester County. However, we will finish April with yet another below normal temperature day. Today will be the 10th such day in the last 14. The record high for today is the 90 degrees from 1942. Our record low was the 26 degrees set today back in 1978. Record rainfall is 1.28" from 1980.

The low this morning was 33.3 degrees. The record high today is 89 degrees set in 1957. The record low reading is 26 degrees from 1946. Record rain for this date is the 2.00" that fell today in 1928.

Record high for today was the 94 on this date way back in 1915. The record low was the 26 from 1926. Record rainfall was 1.92" in 1913.

The record high for today was 90 degrees set in 1990. Our record low was 28 degrees from 1930. Record rainfall was the 1.73" that fell on this date back in 1937.

The record high for today is 93 set back in 1915 - our record low is the 28 set back in 1922. Record rain is the 1.50" from 1975.

Beautiful day on tap for today! The record high for today is 90 degrees set back in 1960. The record low is 26 degrees from 1930. Record rain was the 2.40" that fell in 1968.

I thought I would share a post from my Chester County PA Facebook Weather Site that arose from some farmer questions around the growing season and the relations to the relative elevation differences across the county. Along with an understanding of the differences between frost and freezes. This is going to be a pretty lengthy post as I started looking at some questions I received on frost vs. freeze and the growing season here in Chester County. First off I want to be sure everyone knows the difference between frost and freeze. Frost occurs when the temperature on the ground level reaches 32 degrees. However, the National Weather Services and trained COOP observers and spotters are required to measure the actual air temperature at 5 to 6 feet above the ground level. Therefore, it is easy to measure freezing temperatures based on weather observation records. Frost however can occur with temperatures in the upper 30's so records are not as robust for frost observations....unless it was reported in the notes section of weather observer reports. There are also significant differences based on elevation above sea level. Higher elevations across our county experience less frost and fewer freezing days as cold air is heavier and sinks into valley locations. This is why on calm and clear nights there can be a 5-to-10-degree difference over a mile...with temperatures lower and frost and freeze conditions more common at lower spots vs. higher locations. Here in Chester County, we range from the highest elevation of 1,071 ft. in the Welsh Mountains across Honey Brook Township...to the lowest elevation of 70 feet above sea level along the Schuylkill River at the Montgomery County line. The primary weather records I use are from Coatesville NWS Coop observers (1894-2003) and East Nantmeal Township (2003 to Present). The weather records from the NWS COOP observers between 1894 through 1982 were recorded in Coatesville at an elevation between 350ft and 400 ft above sea level. All observations since 1983 at both Coatesville and East Nantmeal have been taken between 650 ft to 685 ft above sea level. Due to this when I compare actual to average temperatures I use the higher elevation temperature averages for Chester County from 1983 to Present. This will be the 40th year of high elevation records. For all-time records (including temperature, rain, and snow) I use the combined records from 1894 to Present. Overall, the average annual temperature readings from 1894 through 1982 compared with 1983 through 2021 period are almost exactly the same! This, despite our current warming phase of our cyclical climate changes. As expected average high temperatures are more than 1 degree colder when analyzing the higher elevation observations from 1983 through today - with low temperatures averaging almost 2 degrees warmer than the lower spots ran from 1894 to 1983. Overall average annual temperatures from the first 89 years of obs from 1894-1982 had an average annual temperature of 52.2 degrees - compared with the 1984 through 2021 period having an annual average temperature of 52.5 degrees...so only 0.3 degrees warmer. Now due to the differences in elevation the growing season has shown a much greater difference compared to the overall temperature profiles when you compare the higher spots over 650 feet to the lower spots below 400 feet in our County. The near 2 degrees of low temperature warming due to the higher elevations along the ridges has resulted in a 2 week increase in the growing season comparing ridge vs. valley locations (172 days in the valley vs 186 days on the ridges). There is a one week or greater difference between both the last freeze of the spring (April 18th (ridge) vs April 25th (valley) and the first freeze of the fall (October 14th (valley) vs. October 24th (ridge). Of the 89 years of valley observations from 1894-1983 our last freeze in spring occurred in April a total of 60 times (68%) vs. 29 times in May (32%). On the ridges since 1983 our last spring freeze has occurred in April a total of 33 times (84%) compared to 3 times in both May (8%) and March (8%). Let me know if any questions or follow ups to any of the above information. Thanks again for your tremendous support and participation on this site!! It is deeply appreciated!! Sincerely, Paul

The record Chester County High for today is 91 set back in 1960, our record low is the 24 degree reading in 1922. Record rain is the 1.39" that fell in 1921

Record high for Chester County today is 88 set back in 1985 with the record low being 22 from 1922. Record precipitation is 1.26" in 1927.