Spring is finally here
This weekend we got to say goodbye to the polar vortex that wanted so badly to overstay its visit. Cold Arctic air has dominated the weather scene across Southwestern Pennsylvania for much of April and the first two weeks of May. Along with the cold air came a lot of precipitation, some of it in the form of snow.
In the mountains, eight days had snowflakes in April and May, and on two of those occasions, the snow amounted to several inches. Even the lower elevations, including Uniontown had several days with snowflakes.
On the days it wasn鈥檛 snowing, it was raining. April had 24 days with rain and for the month, we had twice as much rainfall as normal. The first two weeks of May saw rain on 12 out of 14 days. Even the few days that we did see the sun, the weather was on the cold and windy side. Those few hours of pleasant sunshine was quickly followed by clouds and more rain.
Father Frost and Mother Nature teamed up to produce some awful weather; the likes we have not seen for some time. Last Saturday morning after all the snow, the temperature in the mountains dropped into the low 20s. Readings in the Uniontown area also were cold with temperatures in most area falling below freezing. The cold took its toll on area vegetation especially in colder valleys and the higher elevations.
In the mountains, we observed over 18 hours of temperature below freezing from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon. The intense freeze did a lot of damage to tender plants that were enjoying all the rainfall over the past several months. Tree blossoms turned brown and many plants had damage. My backyard Hosta garden suffered major damage. Even covering plants did not work due to the intensity and duration of the freezing conditions.
Average temperatures at this time of the year should be in the low 70s for afternoon highs and low 50s for morning lows. Several days last week saw afternoon high temperatures in the upper 30ies to low 40ies. This is some 30 degrees below normal and this departure in temperature is unusual. The Uniontown area saw temperatures average 10 degrees below average for the first two weeks of May.
It was also interesting to note Fairbanks, Alaska, the place where all the cold air came from, had a high temperature this past Tuesday of 82 and a low of just 59. The increasing amounts of sunshine and the departure of the cold air to Southwestern Pennsylvania had a lot to do with this warm up. In the Pacific Northwest; both Portland and Seattle recorded highs of 88 degrees on Tuesday.
Now for the good news. With the polar vortex gone and the cold air dissipated, we are in store for a nice warm-up and the even better news is that this time we think it will last and that spring will finally arrive. The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting temperatures over the next week to stay about normal or even a bit above the normal of 73 degrees for the high and 51 for the morning low.
The jetstream weather pattern that brought us all the wet and cold has flattened out and this is allowing a return to warmer and even a little more dry weather to dominate our region. This should be welcome news for those of us wanting to get outside and enjoy the beauty of what spring should be about across our area. Plants and gardens will also like the increased sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Happy spring, it鈥檚 finally here.