close

Halfway through 2017, local weather anything but normal

3 min read

Last Friday’s drenching downpours created damaging flooding across Washington and Greene counties and drove the water table up over what was an already saturated level. It seems as if it’s done nothing but rain since the start of spring. However, a look at the numbers shows some surprising facts. We’re now halfway through 2017, and you probably won’t be surprised that (as of this writing), Pittsburgh’s total precipitation for the year is 3.22 inches above normal and nearly 2 inches more than this time last year.

What is noteworthy is our rainfall is still four tenths of an inch below normal precipitation for the month of June. National Weather Service Pittsburgh Forecast Office climate reports show that back on June 15, Pittsburgh was running 1.25 inches BELOW normal precipitation for the year. We made up for that in a week’s time. When the skies opened Friday, Washington County Airport reported 1.83 inches of precipitation fell in six hours (as of 8 p.m.). While it seems we’ve gotten plenty of liquid precipitation, the past two winters produced below-normal snowfall totals. This past season left only 32 inches of the frozen stuff, coming in nearly 10 inches below normal.

So what is “normal”? The National Weather Service defines climatological normal as the average value of a meteorological element over 30 years (currently measured from 1981 to 2010 and updated every 10 years). These numbers help in describing the climate and are used as a base to which current conditions can be compared.

As for temperatures, the hottest measured so far this year in Pittsburgh was 91 on June 13, while the coldest was a chilly 4 degrees on Jan. 9. Right after that, we zoomed up to 66 on Jan. 12.

January wound up more than six degrees above normal, with precipitation slightly less than an inch below normal. February launched into the record books, going down as the fourth warmest February on record for Pittsburgh. The temperature averaged 9.5 degrees above normal, with precipitation nearly one inch below normal. March was soggy, with more than 2 inches above-normal precipitation and temperatures averaging less than a degree above normal. April was warm and wet: temperatures 6.3 degrees above normal and precipitation nearly a half inch above normal.

May was another soggy month, with precipitation 1.2 inches above normal, but temperatures only a half degree above normal. June is running about two degrees warmer than normal going into the final days but has run the gamut with daily high temperatures ranging from only 65 degrees all the way up to 91.

That brings us to the start of July. What will Mother Nature bring us during the second half of this year? I am hoping we all get to enjoy a bit of a respite from flooding and severe weather with some sunny, warm days to finish the summer. Then we can get ready for fall and the onset of that dreaded word in the forecast: S-N-O-W.

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today