Central PA Summer 2025

[canderson]

2 minutes ago, WmsptWx said:

Yo are the leaves already changing? 

Dropping here due to how dry it is 

[WmsptWx]

Just now, canderson said:

Dropping here due to how dry it is 

Same up this way but I'm seeing some color in a few trees here and there. With how cool and sunny it's been, I'm thinking the plant life is confused.

[WmsptWx]

This is in Huntingdon. I do not believe this is red year-round. 

[Blizzard of 93]

Goodbye Met Summer & hello Met Fall!

[Mount Joy Snowman]

Low of 52. The perfect Labor Day upon us. 

[Itstrainingtime]

70 and sunny here in Maytown at 10:35am. Good to be home sweet home.

[canderson]

My garden is sand. I have less than .5” rain since July 1. 
 

You can also walk across the entire Susquehanna in Harrisburg and not get water above your waist. How do I know? An idiot I know did this yesterday.  

[Itstrainingtime]

48 minutes ago, canderson said:

My garden is sand. I have less than .5” rain since July 1. 
 

You can also walk across the entire Susquehanna in Harrisburg and not get water above your waist. How do I know? An idiot I know did this yesterday.  

Did you take a selfie doing it? 

[canderson]

23 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Did you take a selfie doing it? 

There aren’t enough antibiotics in the world to get me to touch that water ha

[WmsptWx]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

My garden is sand. I have less than .5” rain since July 1. 
 

You can also walk across the entire Susquehanna in Harrisburg and not get water above your waist. How do I know? An idiot I know did this yesterday.  

I would use many words to describe @sauss06, "idiot" is not one of them 

[Mount Joy Snowman]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

There aren’t enough antibiotics in the world to get me to touch that water ha

Ah C’mon Candy, live a little! We go in the river all the time. Got to build up that immune system. It’s like George Carlin used to say, they never got sick as kids because they swam in the Brooklyn River haha. “We swam in sewage!” 

[ChescoWx]

Despite a well below normal August in temperatures overall summer (June thru August) finished as our warmest summer since 2010. But still well below our warmest summer way back in 1943. Overall there has been clearly almost no warming at all across our summers since 1893. A very flat trend line is clear to see! The below analysis is across 31 NWS/FAA/DEOS/COOP and trained spotter data since 1893.

[ChescoWx]

If you thought this August was chilly across the Philly burbs of Chester County PA it indeed was. We finished with the 6th chilliest August in 133 years of data back to 1893.

[canderson]

Got up to 81 today. 

[pawatch]

7 hours ago, canderson said:

My garden is sand. I have less than .5” rain since July 1. 
 

You can also walk across the entire Susquehanna in Harrisburg and not get water above your waist. How do I know? An idiot I know did this yesterday.  

The boats have been doing a lot of bumping and grinding with the low water. 

[Itstrainingtime]

57 minutes ago, ChescoWx said:

If you thought this August was chilly across the Philly burbs of Chester County PA it indeed was. We finished with the 6th chilliest August in 133 years of data back to 1893.

My coldest August temp ever came in 1982 - got down to 38.8. I need to check the exact date. I believe there were Frost Advisories except for Lancaster and York counties.

[mahantango#1]

[mitchnick]

Both Harrisburg airports have remained at the same location since they started reporting weather obs. MDT records go back to 1992 while Harrisburg Capital Airport go all the way back to 1939. 

If you had any doubts that MDT records are questionable, as many have mentioned/joked since I purchased a home in 2019 and followed the forum, this summer's records are all the evidence you need.

MDT monthly temp anomalies respectively:

+1.3, +2.5, -2.6 = monthly average of +.4 (normal is ofter defined as +/- .5)

Capital Airport monthly temp anomalies respectively:

+.7, +1.2, -4.0 = monthly average of -.7

[Mount Joy Snowman]

50 minutes ago, mitchnick said:

Both Harrisburg airports have remained at the same location since they started reporting weather obs. MDT records go back to 1992 while Harrisburg Capital Airport go all the way back to 1939. 

If you had any doubts that MDT records are questionable, as many have mentioned/joked since I purchased a home in 2019 and followed the forum, this summer's records are all the evidence you need.

MDT monthly temp anomalies respectively:

+1.3, +2.5, -2.6 = monthly average of +.4 (normal is ofter defined as +/- .5)

Capital Airport monthly temp anomalies respectively:

+.7, +1.2, -4.0 = monthly average of -.7

I’ve been meaning to make a post of this nature because, when I do my daily checks, I’ve been stunned by how many times this summer MDT has come in a good 2-5 degrees warmer than even CXY for daily lows. I know we’re all aware of MDT’s tendency to run high for minimums this time of year but it seemed especially egregious. They are routinely the warmest station in the state along with PHL. That’s why I had to laugh when that one guy popped in a while back to rant about MDT being too cold of a spot for our area. I didn’t bother responding but about spit out my drink haha. I’m not even in a cold spot relative to most of the forum and I can’t tell you how many times my low will be something like 54 and MDT’s will be like 60 ha. Speaking of, it was 54 when I left the house this morning. Carry on. 

[mitchnick]

23 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

I’ve been meaning to make a post of this nature because, when I do my daily checks, I’ve been stunned by how many times this summer MDT has come in a good 2-5 degrees warmer than even CXY for daily lows. I know we’re all aware of MDT’s tendency to run high for minimums this time of year but it seemed especially egregious. They are routinely the warmest station in the state along with PHL. That’s why I had to laugh when that one guy popped in a while back to rant about MDT being too cold of a spot for our area. I didn’t bother responding but about spit out my drink haha. I’m not even in a cold spot relative to most of the forum and I can’t tell you how many times my low will be something like 54 and MDT’s will be like 60 ha. Speaking of, it was 54 when I left the house this morning. Carry on. 

My guess would be location of thermometer to surface material grass vs. concrete (light colored hard surface) or asphalt  (dark colored hard surface), sunlight, buildings, and river, or a combination of 2 or more, which results in warmer readings relative to other locations that have properly placed thermometers. "Properly placed" as in not effected by known microclimate features or natural microclimate features like direct sunlight or the Susquehanna river.

[Itstrainingtime]

Just to add to the August climate summary, MU came in BN for the month for temps and it was tied for the driest August on record. 

[pasnownut]

On 8/31/2025 at 2:35 PM, WmsptWx said:

Same up this way but I'm seeing some color in a few trees here and there. With how cool and sunny it's been, I'm thinking the plant life is confused.

Hints of early color up at cabin and on way home yesterday.  Thought it early, but maples show first signs of fall usually in early september around home.....and its early september. 

[ChescoWx]

Our beautiful start to September continues with some of our lower valley location recording their 8th straight morning with low temperatures in the 40's! Remarkable for the end of August and the beginning of September. We should see somewhat warmer temperatures this week getting us to slightly above normal high temperatures by Thursday and Friday. Another cold front crosses the area by the end of the week and next week looks like a return to well below normal temperatures again. Our best rain chance in a few weeks looks possible by Thursday night into Friday morning with the aforementioned cold front. We will take whatever we can get at this point.

[ChescoWx]

At an overall average temperature of 73.0 degrees the summer of 2025 finished as the 54th warmest summer across 133 years of records in the Philly burbs of Chester County PA. The top 20 warmest summers are listed below.

[ChescoWx]

13 of the 19 current Chester County stations recorded their driest August on record. Of note those stations have less years with data. That said on average it appears this to be the 3rd driest August since 1893 across our fair county. The driest such months occurred in 1896 and 1943.