Public pools ride a wave of summer weather ups and downs
For some area pools, the early rain and cooler temperatures provided a setback to the start of the swim season until summertime heat moved in during late June along with drier weather.
June precipitation recorded by the National Weather Service (NWS) at the Pittsburgh International Airport was 5.57 inches compared to 2.5 inches in June 2024, up 3.07 inches over last year.
DeAnna Martin, Washington Park director, remembered having some concerns earlier in the season about attendance at the park pool.
“June started off and the weather was not great. We opened a little later than we usually do.” But by mid-summer, the numbers at the pool had outpaced 2024, much to her surprise.
The same proved true in neighboring Fayette County.
“Late May and early June were really rough,” said Joe Pindrock, township supervisor for Franklin Township regarding the Franklin Community Park Pool in Vanderbilt.
“When it rains people don’t want to spend the money if there is a chance of having to leave early. The latter half of June was pretty good. It started to dry up and we had some decent weather. Early July was pretty average,” said Pindrock.
As the mercury rose in July and August, swimmers came out to take the plunge and cool off. There were about the same number of 88-degree and above days during July through mid-August both years: 19 days in 2024 and 20 days this year, according to AccuWeather data for the Washington area.
“Even on weekdays we were having 300 to 400 people, which is unusual for a weekday,” said Martin of Washington Park Pool. “There were some days we were pushing our limit at 500 people. Our June numbers are up from last year and so are our July numbers, which is incredible because I never thought we’d beat last year’s numbers.”
Martin has a guess as to why: “It got really hot and it stayed very hot.”
Additionally, she said, “We’ve changed the dynamic of the pool I think for the better. There is structure and there are rules. We aren’t afraid to ask someone to go home and try again tomorrow. Our memberships are up again, and I think we are trending in the right way again as a facility,” Martin said.
Along with the summer heat was the threat of thunderstorms, many of them localized in July, according to the NWS.
“Rain definitely keeps people away, and thunder causes us to close temporarily, or for the day. We had plenty of rain and thunderstorms this year,” said David Donnellan, director of recreation for Mt. Lebanon Township. As of early August, Mt. Lebanon Swim Center had 40,676 guests, compared with 44,796 last year.
In Mount Lebanon, the pool floor was repaired, filtration was enhanced and a new chemical controller was installed. Donnellan said the improvements improved the pool’s water quality this season.
Greene County had two facilities in operation this summer, the Mon View Pool in Greensboro and the Greene County Water Park in Waynesburg. The pool in Carmichaels, closed last year for repairs, remained closed again this year.
“We did well on certain days and had five record attendance days when it was hot,” said Bret Moore, director of Greene County Department of Recreation. “But overall that was offset by a lot of days that we had thunderstorms in the afternoon and had to close early,” said Moore.
Similarly, Christina Hollandsworth, manager of the Canonsburg Town Park Pool, had the same issue.
“It’s been a really odd summer with even trying to predict if we are going to open or not for the day because it never fails, it looks like it’s going to storm all day, and then come 2 or 3 p.m. it’s beautiful,” said Hollandsworth.
Her strategy was to reduce staffing in the morning, keeping a minimum-regulation number in the event the weather improved later in the day. Pool pass sales were down overall for the season, she said.
With both indoor and outdoor pools at the Upper St. Clair Recreation Center, swimmers had more options during inclement weather.
“Whenever we opened the pool, the first week or two, we definitely were affected by the rain, but we weren’t into the full summer weather,” said Dennis Burlovic, aquatics supervisor for the recreation center. Once the 90-degree weather started, the outdoor pool was busy. Burlovic noted that on those hot days, from open to close, between 750 to 900 people were checked into the facility.
Staffing levels often dip in August, with lifeguards returning to college, and high schoolers heading to football and band camps.
Pindrock said his staffing numbers were better this year. “We try to work with them as far as the activities and camps go. In the later half of August it slows down as people get ready to go back to school and take vacation,” he said.
The facilities in Greene County closed the season early due to staffing.
“By the time the dry weather came, many lifeguards were heading to football camp, band camp and other camps as well as college,” said Moore.
“It’s cyclical. We had a great year overall last year. You never know what the weather is going to bring, especially when you are open 10 to 12 weeks of the summer,” Moore said.