Return to normal
After a visit from the Polar Vortex, spring-like weather returned to Southwestern Pennsylvania this past week melting away the heavy snow that accompanied the Polar Air.
It was interesting to note the temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska before the Polar Air headed south was a high of 33 below zero and a low of 45 below. It is simply just hard to imagine that kind of cold.
Our area did get down to single digits and a few afternoons in the teens. Wind chills made it feel even worse but it’s hard for one to imagine living in places like Alaska during winter, and remember its dark 24 hours of the day.
I did enjoy the fresh snowfall, however with the wind it quickly blew off the trees and kept road crews busy with snow drifting back onto roadways. After a few days of melting it was all gone and we were left with vehicles, sidewalks and streets in need of a good wash.
Temperatures during our Polar visit were 10 to 15 degrees below normal and looking ahead the next 10 days should see averages more near our normal for late December of 40 degrees for highs and 25 for morning lows.
Christmas will be green and not white.
The extreme cold of the first half of December was a bit unusual and as we take a look back over 2025 much of the country saw weather overall that was unusual.
After a mild spring, summer was a hot one with 29 days of 90 or better in the Uniontown area; the average is 13. Fall was warm and sunny with our fall colors on the dull side. Winter arrived early.
Across the country, the Jet Stream brought havoc along with death and destruction from floods that affected the middle and southern states, while keeping the 13 tropical storms and hurricanes away from our coasts. Three of these hurricanes were Category 5 storms and you may remember the pictures from Jamaica and the almost complete destruction that our coastal areas avoided. Hundreds lost their lives from the flooding including many children from the ill prepared responses to the Texas floods. Now we are experiencing extreme flooding in the Northwest.
A lot of our weather problems are a result of our warmer climate. Warmer air is resulting from warmer oceans that hold more water and this increased energy supply makes for more frequent and deadly storms. Even though the Arctic is the breeding ground for the Polar Vortex; the Arctic has been warming since 1900. It is now 3.6 degrees above average and 5.4 degrees above since 1900.
The Arctic is warming two to four times faster than the rest of our planet. Alaska even had a hurricane this summer that flooded large areas and brought hurricane-type storm surge forcing evacuations that will last until next summer until people can return to their homes.
While all of this is happening the administration just announced on December 16th the dismantling of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, the world’s leading climate research center, this in addition to the massive cuts to NOAA.
I had the occasion to visit this facility on two occasions and was thrilled to learn of their endeavors to help research our weather and protect our people from harm’s way.
Thousands of scientists and thousands of weather events certainly are a signal that something is going on and to continue to deny we have a problem is foolhardy.
Our children will look back some day and realize just how stupid a political approach to our warming climate was, especially when we have the knowledge and skills to produce a better outcome.