MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - WESTMONT 1.1W PA SEPTEMBER 2008 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour At Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 75 54 2 77 54 3 79 56 4 80 56 5 80 61 6 71 59 .22 7 68 54 T 8 72 54 F 9 59 55 1.26 F,T 10 64 48 F 11 64 54 12 68 61 3.03 F 13 73 64 .62 F 14 82 69 T DW 15 70 60 .02 16 63 52 17 65 48 F 18 69 52 19 70 48 20 70 47 21 74 49 F 22 68 51 F 23 64 50 F 24 68 46 F 25 64 51 26 57 49 .02 27 70 57 .10 F 28 64 60 .17 F 29 63 55 30 63 50 .10 AVG/SUM 69.1 54.1 5.54 0.0 - EXT 82 46 3.03 - - Date 14 24 12 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 61.6 F Year precipitation to date: 45.47" Season snowfall to date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog 12 Thunder 1 Damaging Winds 1 DETAILED OBSERVATION NOTES 1: Sunny & clear with very light NE winds - very pleasant day. 2: Another clear sunny mild day. Very light NW winds. 3: Sunny, warm, light variable winds. 4: Sunny, warm, light SW breezes, becoming hazy during the evening. 5: Sunny with light S winds, becoming partly cloudy by late morning, overcast by evening. 6: Light rain from 3-7am .21" fell. Overcast and breezy with winds shifting from the SW to NW. A brief shower at 4:15pm. The light rain was from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Hanna, which moved up the Atlantic coast and dumped very heavy rain just east of the mountains. 7: Clear to mostly sunny skies during the morning, becoming mostly cloudy during the afternoon with a few sprinkes and occasional breezes from the W or NW. 8: Dense fog early burned off to clear skies, with increasing clouds through the morning, then became mostly sunny to clear again by evening with light SW winds and hazy skies. INTENSE STORM 9: Intense pre-dawn thunderstorm 5-6am with wicked close and almost continuous lightning and thunder, very heavy downpours and SW wind gusts to 30 mph. The brunt of the storm passed quickly but moderate rain continued through 9am followed by dense fog, intermittent drizzle and much cooler temperatures. 1.26" of rain today with heavier amounts around 2" falling in the S & E parts of town. 10: Patchy early fog with clear to mostly sunny skies and light NW winds. 11: Becoming overcast, cool and breezy with S winds gusting ~20 mph. HEAVY RAIN 12: Rain began pre-dawn and became heavy from 7:30-9am with well over an inch falling by 9am. Occasional rain and showers continued through the day with patchy fog and cool temperatures. Another series of cloudbursts this evening beginning at 5:30pm and continuing on and off through ~8:30pm with most (>1 inch) of it falling in an hour. Rain tapered to drizzle by 9pm. 3.03" fell by midnight. This is the most rainfall in one day since we moved to Westmont in July 2004. Flood advisories were posted for Cambria County this evening. 13: Another downpour overnight at 4:15am dropping a half-inch in 20 minutes or so with lighter rain and showers ending by 7am another .62" fell for a storm total of 3.65 inches. Mostly cloudy, foggy and hazy with a few afternoon sprinkles. STRONG WINDS 14: Fair and warm with a high of 82 F and SW winds increasing during the afternoon and evening and gusting up to 45 mph after sunset. A lot of minor tree damage was done in the backyard with some reports of trees down in town. The strong winds were the result of a tight pressure gradient as the remnants of Hurricane Ike roared up the Mississippi River Valley. 15: Overcast and windy overnight with gusts to 30 mph at times and a couple of light showers early this morning (.02"). Mostly cloudy with gradually subsiding winds shifting to the W. 16: Overcast early with gradually decreasing clouds and light W to NW winds. Cooler with a high of 63 F. 17: Dense fog at daybreak burned off quickly and became a sunny, pleasant day with little wind. 18: Sunny and pleasant again with clear blue skies, near calm wind and pleasant temperatures. 19: Sunny/fair skies & pleasant becoming mostly overcast by evening. Light S winds. 20: Mostly sunny & pleasant 21: AM fog, then fair skies and hazy/humid conditions 22: AM fog, then partial clearing 23: Dense fog then mostly sunny and pleasant with light SE winds 24: Early fog then sunny with light SW winds 25: Partly cloudy early, then mostly cloudy with occasional breezes from the E then NE. 26: Light predawn shower. Cooler and overcast with breezes from NE. 27: Overnight light rain & drizzle. Light ESE winds with partial clearing. Dense fog developed at 10:30pm. Light rain late (0.10" by midnight). 28: Overnight light rain/drizzle (another .06"). Dense fog and periods of drizzle and occasional light rain. Becoming partly cloudy by afternoon with occasional brief showers and light to occasionally moderate N winds. Total rain today .17" (storm total .29"). 29: Mostly cloudy, becoming mostly sunny in the afternoon with light N to NW winds. 30: Mostly overcast. Brief rain showers at 8:30am, mid-afternoon and again at 11pm .10" fell. MONTHLY SUMMARY September's weather was mild with a lack of extreme temperatures in either direction. The low only reached down to 46 F. It is unusual to not have at least a few nights in the lower 40s to upper 30s, and perhaps lower in September. There were 3 days that nudged to the 80 degree mark, more than in August (which was cooler than normal), which only had 2 days 80 or higher. There were relatively few frontal passages, which probably explains the lack of temperature variation. Overall, the month was mild compared to normal and pleasant with a prolonged period of fair weather from the 16th-25th with a relatively high amount of sunshine, aside from a number of foggy mornings, and relatively consistent temperatures. The precipitation pattern was quite perplexing. Despite missing almost all of the moisture from three major, widespread storms, including tropical systems Hanna and Ike, and an upper level low on the 26th-28th that dumped copious amounts of rain to our east in the Susquehanna River basin, and an otherwise dry weather pattern, we still wound up with well above average rainfall. Nearly all of the month's 5.54" of rain fell from the 9th-13th from two fronts. The first was a cold front early on the 9th that brought the month's only thunderstorm, but it was a dinger of a storm with strong gusty winds, torrential downpours and extremely close continuous lightning that rivaled the Aug. 8, 2005 storm when lightning struck the Spruce tree 30 feet in front of the house. Three days later, on the 12th and early morning of the 13th, a warm front slowly lifted northward through the area. Training bands of very heavy downpours repeatedly tracked over the area, prompting flood advisories and producing a whopping 3.65" of rain in 24 hours, 3.03" of it falling on the 12th, a single-day record since we began taking observations in August, 2004. The following day, the 14th, was the warmest day of the month and by far the windiest. Shortly after sunset, winds gusted 45+ mph, causing some minor tree damage in the area. The strong winds were caused by a tight pressure gradient as Hurricane Ike roared up the Mississippi River Valley. The winds subsided following a frontal passage on the 15th, after which the month's local weather became very uneventful.