Climate of the Uniontown area
Nestled snugly below the Chestnut Ridge Mountains, among the hills and valleys of Southwestern Pennsylvania lies the Uniontown area. A landscape filled with natural beauty and known for its diversity of terrain and climate.
Alternating periods of warm air from the south and cold air from the north keeps our weather interesting, full of variety and constant change; a little of everything, without an abundance of any one particular type of weather.
Give it an hour or two and it will change. Our climate is described by meteorologists as “Moderate Continental,” not too hot, not too cold, not too wet or too dry.
Summers are moderately warm with a few periods of hot and humid weather interspersed with visits from cool, dry fronts to bring relief from any hot and humid weather that wants to outstay its welcome. While the area does have some hot days it never is intense or as long lasting as the blazing heat and humidity of the southern states.
Winters are also moderately cold and snowy; but milder air pushing up from the south thaws the cold and melts away the snow. While the area does have its share of cold winter days, it does not have the long brutal winters of the more northern states.
Spring and fall are truly delightful with very comfortable mild days and pleasantly cool mornings; great days to view the unfolding of the spring green and the fall foliage spectaculars. Only a few places on the planet have the right combination of climate and forests to produce all this beauty. Nothing is more exciting than seeing the promise of each of our seasons as they unfold.
On an annual basis our average daytime temperature is 60 degrees; 80 in the summer, 40 in winter and 60 during the spring and fall months. Mornings average 40 degrees, 60 in the summer, 20 in winter and 40 come spring and fall. I call this ‘the rule of 20’ and it seems to work. Of course on any given day the temperature can also be 20 degrees above or below these averages, these are our extremes.
Weather records in the Uniontown area go back to 1913 and our average number of 90 degree or better summer days was 10. In recent decades this has been increasing probably as the result of our warming climate and now stands at 14 days above 90. Last year we had 28 above 90 days and the year before we had 29.
We will probably have to revise this average again.
One nice thing to remember about our area is that when it gets on the hot side we can take a short drive to our mountains where temperatures average 4-7 degrees cooler and they rarely see 90 degrees.
All in all, compared with much of the country we have a fairly comfortable climate. I like to call it the ‘Comfort Zone.’ Next week we will continue the discussion of our climate.