Dust The Shovels Off

The predictions have started.  A storm has already been named.  Winter hasn't technically started, but the reality is it has.  The first flakes will fly before the week is over in Pennsylvania.

The winter previews from the Philadelphia news sources have yet to arrive.  I would guess those should all appear within the next few weeks.  Like in seasons past I will gather all these guesses to see who did the best when the season ends.  Personally I would prefer to not make a prediction since it amounts to nothing more than a guess.  But what fun would that be.  I have the same chance at being accurate as all of the others.

I will be the first to step up to the plate.  When you consider average snowfall totals you have to consider all the random numbers calculated throughout the years of recordings.  This is why I find it amusing when the Philadelphia stations predict 20-24 inches for the city or basically the seasonal average.  It doesn't consistently snow the same amount every year!  Now for my take.  The Lehigh and Delaware valley's have missed out on the big snow the last few years, but they have been close by.  Like always the potential for a winter battleground in our area could take shape.

• I see potential for at least one major storm (12-15 inches)
• Two storms of a moderate scale (6-8 inches)

This puts us in the ballpark of 24-31 inches which I could settle on if one of those storms doesn't pan out and the rest of the winter is marginal.  However, I will keep with the guesses above and add in the occasional lighter snows for a season for the Reading to Allentown corridor, minus the areas at higher elevation, of 36-39 inches.


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It's time to follow three more cities this year in my so-called snow zones.  I have the pleasure of introducing the three participants this season all coming from the northeast.

As returning champion and overall big city winner yet again last year, Syracuse will once again be represented strong.  Let's be honest, it's going to take a big winter somewhere else in the country to knock Syracuse off their perch.

Head north and we get contestant number two.  Situated along Lake Champlain is the lovely little town of Burlington, Vermont.  For an area that does not see lake effect snow, they can really pound out some solid seasonal totals.

Our wild card this year will be Johnstown, PA.  They have the distinction of being built in a ditch.  It is surrounded in all directions in what I will call large hills.  In winter this elevation difference can help increase moisture in the town and make snowfall totals a bit higher than in other locations.  Though the average isn't very high, it only takes a few big storms to keep this town in the running.

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Summer Rainfall Champion

It wasn't really a competition as much as something to track during the months it isn't snowing.  I picked five random cities before summer started and tracked their monthly rainfall for June, July, August and September.  The numbers were tallied and the winner is...

PHILADELPHIA

The city of brotherly love finished with an incredible 32.96 inches over the four month span.  That would average out to over 8 inches a month and about 8 inches less than a normal yearly average.  This is the first championship the city has won in any weather category since they took down the windiest autumn back in 1967.

Here are the final results from last to first.

5.  Des Moines: 7.59

4.  Portland: 7.75

3.  Baton Rouge:   21.38

2.  Savannah:   29.41

1.  Philadelphia:  32.96

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July Stories

If you take a look at the long range forecast for August, there is one day of a predicted high above 85.  While that might not be accurate it does indicate a cooler trend for the month.  For a little perspective last August had 17 days in Reading reach at least 86 degrees.  Only once did the high last August not reach 80 and four nights got into the 50's.  We already hit the 50's three times in July, something that happened exactly zero times last July.  Moral of the story is enjoy this very nice weather.

Onto news and events.  I will try to keep it brief.

1.)  The western plains is well known for being a prime spot for hailstorms as thunderstorms build and cross over the mountains dumping inches of hail on communities at higher elevations east of the mountains.  It happens every year.  This time it was Santa Rosa, New Mexico that took a hit.  A hit of over a foot.  It's like winter in July only not really and a massive pain.

2.)  I've stayed away from a lot of stories about people leaving animals or children in hot cars but this one is too good to pass up and is short.  A Wisconsin couple will face charges after leaving their 9 month old child in a hot car for at least 20 minutes while they were shopping... for sex toys.  While it doesn't sound like something intelligent people would do, the law abiding couple explained to the police that they left him in the car because no one under 18 is allowed inside. 

3.)  I spent a lot of time talking about the Joplin tornado when it first occurred and now find myself continually talking about something going on because of the storm.  I think this is the second time I've had Joplin mentioned in my weather story section.  As people continue to rebuild and resume life, the storm unearthed lead-contaminated soil from much of the disaster area.  Topsoil was covering old mining fields used over 100 years ago.  When structures and trees were uprooted, lead the size of rocks came to the surface along with other waste from the mines.  Nearly half of the approximately 1,000 yards of soil tested came back positive and will have to be excavated.  It has now been over two years since the tornado struck.

   

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and I'm Back

Hockey, running, workouts, biking, car searching and now finally a new post.  It has been awhile so let's get caught back up.

Great timing to start keeping track of summer rainfall totals.  Great idea to pick Philadelphia as one of the cities to represent.  Since my summer project began on June 1st, Philadelphia has set a new June monthly rainfall record, a July monthly rainfall record and destroyed their daily rainfall record by more than a inch all within a few hours.  By this time tomorrow the total rainfall for two months could be near 25 inches.  Wow.  August will not be breaking any records.  I think the record is somewhere around 19 inches.

In keeping with local weather how about these temperatures?  For all the complaints of a week of 90 degree days everybody should be very pleased with the temperatures we've been seeing and will continue to see.  Even August is looking nice compared to what we could be seeing.

Off to the stories of the strange and different that I have skipped over this past month.  I'll try to do a few here and there while catching up to current events.


1.)  The National Trust for Historic Preservation came out with their top five landmarks to be threatened by gradual sea rise.  You'd be correct if you guessed that all five are located near an ocean.  Now nobody can be certain how high the rise will be and if or when it will occur but take some solace in knowing you might see places others in future generations will miss out on.  Maybe solace wasn't the right word.  Here are their top five in no order.

• Embarcadero - San Francisco:  This area along the water in northeast SF could be swallowed by a rise of 55 inches by the end of this century.
• Battery District - New York:  On the southern tip of Manhattan, this area already saw what a monster storm like Sandy can do.  Flooding will become a more common occurrence in the area as time goes on.
• Miami Beach - Florida:  This one can't be surprising.  The city is on an island between the ocean and Biscayne Bay.  A few direct hits from hurricanes and the place could be gone.  Sea level rise would add more fuel to a potential fire.
• Gay Head Lighthouse - Massachusetts:  The 1856 lighthouse sits on Martha's Vineyard and after taking a parade of beatings from storms over the years, erosion is destroying the cliff it sits on threatening to topple the structure.
• Annapolis - Maryland:  A historic city and home to the Naval Academy, Annapolis has two things working against the city.  They sit right on the bay and are also slowly sinking.  This town should go on my lists of places to at least spend a day in.

2.)  Melting glaciers are never a good sign but in many instances they prove to uncover mysteries of events long from the past.  It happened again two weeks ago, this time in Alaska as a National Guard unit flying training missions last year noticed the wreckage of a plane.  Now the wreckage is being pushed to the surface.  The Air Force cargo plane crashed in 1952.  Officials knew where it was but snow quickly buried it causing it to disappear.  Now officials are working to uncover items and remains that have been preserved in the ice.  Since the crash, the glacier moved the wreckage 12 miles as it continued to shift.

3.)  It was only a matter of time, although I can't say this isn't already being done, but the CIA is funding $630,000 for a scientific study to see if humans can control the weather.  I won't get into all the jargon and specifics but two ideas seem to be on the radar.  One method is to pump particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight away from the planet in an attempt at a cooling trend.  Another study will investigate removing carbon dioxide from the air.  There have been attempts before at altering weather, whether it is trying to create clouds to trying to change hurricane behavior.  Nothing has worked.  And with funding like this I'm not sure how serious they are on it anyway.  

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