MUWIC Newsletter - January 2005

(Issued: January 5, 2005)

Millersville University Weather Information Center (MUWIC)

Eric J. Horst, Director

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LEAD STORY: “Another Wet Year”

For the second straight year, the Lancaster area received above normal precipitation with local amounts varying between 42 and 49 inches. The higher amounts of precipitation fell across northern and eastern parts of the county with as much as seven inches less being recorded in the southwestern portion of the county. The two-year precipitation total for Lancaster is approaching 100 inches—this in the wake of a two-year drought that yielded the driest year on record in 2001—and the Climate Prediction Center’s long-term Drought Monitor ranks our current water resource above the 98^th percentile. View the CPC map at: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/experimental/edb/lbfinal.gif

Annual Rainfall at MU Weather Center

Year Total Rainfall (inches)

1996 59.05 *

1997 29.79

1998 38.31

1999 40.49

2000 34.74

2001 22.68 #

2002 33.77

2003 49.86

2004 42.56

NOTES:

Long-term average annual rainfall is 41.06 inches.

(*) indicates the wettest year on record

(#) indicates the driest year on record

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EVENT OF THE MONTH

While December was rather uneventful in Pennsylvania, portions of the deep south and southwest U.S. experienced a rare snowstorm. On Christmas morning, residents of Victoria, Texas, awoke to the first white Christmas in 86 years!

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STAT OF THE MONTH

Breaking the trend of the last two winters, no measurable snow fell in the Lancaster area during December. In December 2003, just over 10 inches fell; with about 16 inches falling in December 2002.

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DECEMBER CLIMATOLOGY (MU Weather Station)

Average High Temp: 42.9 F

Average Low Temp: 25.6 F

Average Monthly Temp: 34.3 F

(Departure from Normal: +0.3 F)

Snowfall: Trace

(Departure from Normal: -4.6 inches)

Total Precipitation: 2.71 inches

(Departure from Normal: -0.27)

Annual Precipitation: 42.56 inches

(Departure from Normal: +1.50)

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JANUARY NORMALS, RECORDS & FACTS

Normal high/low temperatures for January are 39/22, respectively. The record high for the month is 77 degrees (January 27, 1950) and the record low is -18 (January 21, 1994). Normal liquid precipitation (rain and melted snow) is 3.01 inches. Average snowfall for the month is 8 inches.

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JANUARY OUTLOOK

Nothing changes on New Years Day—at least with regard to the prevailing weather pattern across the United States. The final ten weeks of 2004 featured stormy and cool conditions in the west, while most eastern states experienced unseasonable warmth. Despite brief bouts of chilly weather across the mid-Atlantic region, it looks as if the large-scale pattern will remain unchanged through mid-month.

Meanwhile, a tremendous reservoir of arctic air is building in Canada with temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero. This frigid air is now beginning to press into the US, but the initial push is currently confined to the Upper Midwest, Northern Plains, and Northern Rockies. There will be several days of below zero (F) weather in these regions over the next two weeks, while temperatures remain 5 to 10 degrees above normal in the Eastern states. Given this setup, the storm track will continue from the Southern Rockies to the eastern Great Lakes, with several rounds of snow to the west of this track. Precipitation in the East will be more commonly rain and a mixed bag of ice and wet snow.

Still, local lovers of winter weather should not give up hope. Once established in the Plains, arctic air often eventually bleeds eastward. A couple shallow presses of arctic air will brush our region by later this month, however, a turn to more persistent cold many not occur until month’s end (or beyond). On average, February produces the most snow in the Lancaster area—I trust this will be the case this year.