NOUS41 KCTP 012309 PNSCTP PAZ028-050-052-056>059-063>066-021500- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 610 PM EST SUN JAN 1 2006 ...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT... HARRISBURG ANNUAL SUMMARY FOR 2005 AFTER REGISTERING THE 3RD WARMEST SUMMER IN HISTORY...THE REMAINDER OF 2005 PROVIDED ENOUGH VARIETY SO THAT HARRISBURG WILL GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS NOWHERE NEAR THE TOP FIVE FOR ANY OF THE TEMPERATURE OR PRECIPITATION CATEGORIES. THE YEAR STARTED OFF WITH TEMPERATURES VARYING ALMOST MONTH TO MONTH BEFORE ABOVE NORMAL READINGS SET IN FOR THE SUMMER AND REMAINED INTO LATE FALL. UNTIL DECEMBER REGISTERED COLDER THAN NORMAL...WE HAD ENJOYED 6 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN THE CAPITAL CITY. THE MONTHS OF JUNE THROUGH NOVEMBER WERE WELL ABOVE NORMAL...COMING IN 3 DEGREES WARMER THAN AVERAGE. STILL THE YEAR ENDED UP JUST 1 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL...WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 54.3 DEGREES. THIS PLACED WELL DOWN THE LIST AT JUST THE 15TH WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. EVEN THOUGH THE SUMMER ENDED UP BEING THE 3RD WARMEST IN HISTORY...ACTUAL HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS SET DURING 2005 WERE RARE. ONLY ONE RECORD HIGH OCCURRED...64 DEGREES WAY BACK ON NEW YEAR`S DAY. THAT BROKE THE OLD HIGH OF 62 SET IN 1979. THE SUMMER WAS WARM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE NUMBER OF DAYS WE EXCEEDED 90 DEGREES. IN A NORMAL SUMMER WE CAN BE EXPECTED TO TOP 90 ABOUT 16 TIMES. THIS YEAR WE SAW THE MERCURY REACH 90 OR HIGHER 24 TIMES DURING THE PERIOD OF JUNE THROUGH AUGUST. THE WARMEST DAILY TEMPERATURE OF THE YEAR WAS 97 BACK ON AUGUST 13TH. THE COLDEST READING OF THE YEAR WAS 4 ON DECEMBER 14TH. PRECIPITATION WAS PERHAPS THE MOST MUNDANE FEATURE FOR THE YEAR. OVERALL WE TOTALED 38.78 INCHES OF RAIN...WHICH WAS 2.67 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. IT MIGHT BE RECALLED THAT 2003 AND 2004 WERE BOTH NEAR RECORD SETTING WITH REGARDS TO PRECIPITATION. THEY WERE THE 2ND AND 4TH WETTEST YEARS IN HISTORY RESPECTIVELY. THE WETTEST DAY OF THE YEAR WAS OCTOBER 7TH WHEN 3.97 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS A FEW INCHES ABOVE NORMAL...COMING IN AT 40.2 INCHES. NORMALLY IN HARRISBURG WE CAN EXPECT ABOUT 36.9 INCHES OF SNOW IN A SINGLE YEAR. HOWEVER SNOWFALL IS GENERALLY TRACKED BY SEASON...WITH THE SEASON BEING DEFINED AS RUNNING FROM FALL THROUGH THE FOLLOWING SPRING. THE SNOWIEST SEASONS ON RECORD ALL HAD SNOWFALL TOTALS EXCEEDING 70 INCHES. THE LEAST SNOWY SEASONS IN THE BOOKS ALL HAD 11 INCHES OF SNOW OR LESS. SO FAR THIS SEASON WE HAVE HAD 12.3 INCHES OF SNOW. THIS IS RUNNING A HEALTHY 4.6 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THE BIGGEST SINGLE DAILY SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS 8 INCHES...WHICH OCCURRED TWICE...ON FEBRUARY 24TH AND DECEMBER 9TH. HARRISBURG MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR 2005 TEMPERATURE /RAINFALL /SNOWFALL JAN 31.1 4.41 9.5 FEB 34.4 1.91 17.1 MAR 38.1 3.82 1.3 APR 54.5 4.93 0.0 MAY 59.4 0.88 0.0 JUN 75.0 1.39 0.0 JUL 77.6 6.31 0.0 AUG 77.1 1.74 0.0 SEP 71.2 0.80 0.0 OCT 56.8 7.78 0.0 NOV 46.1 2.09 0.1 DEC 30.3 2.72 12.2 ====================================== AVERAGE 54.3 TOTALS 38.78 40.2 DEPARTURE +1.0 -2.67 +3.3 HARRISBURG`S 5 WARMEST YEARS: 1998 56.6 DEGREES 1991 55.6 DEGREES 1999 55.6 DEGREES 1931 55.4 DEGREES 1990 55.1 DEGREES HARRISBURG`S 5 COLDEST YEARS: 1904 49.2 DEGREES 1917 50.1 DEGREES 1907 50.4 DEGREES 1893 50.5 DEGREES 1926 51.0 DEGREES HARRISBURG`S 5 WETTEST YEARS: 1972 59.27 INCHES 2003 54.68 INCHES 1975 54.22 INCHES 2004 53.34 INCHES 1996 52.43 INCHES HARRISBURG`S 5 DRIEST YEARS: 1941 25.52 INCHES 2001 25.76 INCHES 1930 27.29 INCHES 1909 28.16 INCHES 1922 28.20 INCHES HARRISBURG`S 5 SNOWIEST YEARS: 1960-61 81.3 INCHES 1995-96 77.6 INCHES 1993-94 75.9 INCHES 1963-64 74.7 INCHES 1977-78 70.6 INCHES HARRISBURG`S 5 LEAST SNOWY YEARS: 1937-38 8.8 INCHES 1994-95 9.0 INCHES 1949-50 9.8 INCHES 1930-31 10.3 INCHES 1997-98 10.9 INCHES HAPPY NEW YEAR! $$ LA CORTE