...2003 YEAR IN REVIEW FOR WILLIAMSPORT...

2003 WILL GO DOWN IN THE BOOKS AS A COOL AND WET YEAR IN 
WILLIAMSPORT. IN FACT IT WAS THE THIRD WETTEST YEAR IN ON RECORD. 
ALTOGETHER 53.20 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS MEASURED AT THE 
WILLIAMSPORT AIRPORT. THE WETTEST YEAR ON RECORD WAS 61.27 INCHES
OF RAIN THAT FELL IN 1972...THE YEAR THAT THE REGION
WAS DEVASTATED BY THE VISIT OF FORMER HURRICANE AGNES.

THE YEAR STARTED OFF COLD AND SNOWY. IT ALSO ENDED UP SNOWY...BUT 
NOT QUITE AS COLD AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN. THE PERIOD OF JANUARY 
THROUGH MARCH AVERAGED MORE THAN 2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL WHILE 
TOTALING A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL IN THE RAINFALL COLUMN. THOUGH IT WAS 
SLIGHTLY DRIER THAN NORMAL OVERALL...SNOWFALL FOR THE FIRST THREE 
MONTHS WAS MORE THAN 9 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.

ALL TOLD THE TEMPERATURE WAS COLDER THAN NORMAL FOR SIX OF THE FIRST 
SEVEN MONTHS OF THE YEAR, A STREAK THAT EXTENDED BACK TO THE 
PREVIOUS FALL. THE PATTERN FINALLY BROKE WITH TEMPERATURE RETURNING 
TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL BY AUGUST, A PATTERN THAT PERSISTED 
INTO THE AUTUMN MONTHS.

OF PARTICULAR NOTE IN 2003 WAS NOT ONLY THE AMOUNT OF RAIN THAT FELL 
BUT THE NUMBER OF DAYS ON WHICH IT FELL. MAY...WHICH MANY FEEL 
MARKS THE REAL BEGINNING OF THE WARM SEASON...WAS PARTICULARLY 
DREARY WITH RAIN OCCURRING ON 18 OF THE 31 POSSIBLE DAYS. THAT ONLY 
ACTED AS A HARBINGER OF THE UPCOMING COOL WET SUMMER. THE PERIOD OF 
JUNE THROUGH AUGUST IS CONSIDERED THE TRADITIONAL SUMMER. FOR THAT 
PERIOD, WILLIAMSPORT AVERAGED JUST A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL IN THE 
TEMPERATURE DEPARTMENT, BUT MANAGED TO TOTAL MORE THAN 4 INCHES OF 
RAIN ABOVE NORMAL. IN FACT IT ENDED UP AS THE FIFTH RAINIEST SUMMER 
ON RECORD.

ALSO OF NOTE WERE THE NUMBER OF RAINY DAYS AND LOST WEEKENDS DURING 
THE SUMMER MONTHS. MANY BUSINESSES THAT RELY ON FAIR WEATHER 
REPORTED EARNINGS LOSSES DUE TO THE NUMBER OF DAYS PRECIPITATION 
OCCURRED THIS PAST SUMMER. WITH RAIN FALLING ON NEARLY 50 PERCENT OF 
THE DAYS BETWEEN THE BEGINNING OF JUNE AND THE END OF AUGUST...AND 
WITH ALMOST 70 PERCENT OF THE WEEKENDS EXPERIENCING AT LEAST ONE DAY 
WITH MEASURABLE RAIN...IT COULD EASILY BE SAID THAT THE SUMMER WAS 
A VIRTUAL WASHOUT. THE LONGEST PERIOD OF DRY WEATHER ALL SUMMER WAS 
JUST 7 DAYS...SEEN DURING THE LAST WEEK OF JUNE.

PERHAPS ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, THE NUMBER OF DAYS REQUIRING AIR 
CONDITIONING WAS KEPT AT BAY BY THE CLOUDS AND RAIN. NORMALLY IN THE 
SUMMER MONTHS WE CAN EXPECT ABOUT 13 DAYS DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES 
OF 90 OR ABOVE. THIS PAST SUMMER WE SAW 90 DEGREES ON JUST 7 DAYS. 

SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS ALSO ABOVE NORMAL, TOTALING MORE THAN 55 
INCHES, OR 16 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR. FEBRUARY 
SAW SNOWFALL OF ABOUT 10 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL...AND THE YEAR ENDED 
WITH DECEMBER RINGING UP MORE THAN 7 INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE NORMAL.

A MONTHLY SUMMARY IS PRESENTED IN THE TABLE BELOW.

MONTH   TEMP/DEPART  PRECIP/DEPART   SNOWFALL/DEPART 
JAN     22.6/-2.9       1.91/-0.94"    12.0/-0.5"
FEB     25.5/-3.0       3.10/+0.49"    19.3/+10.0"
MAR     37.0/-1.0       3.12/-0.09"     7.0/-0.4"
APR     49.1/+0.1       2.93/-0.56"     3.8/+2.6"
MAY     57.8/-1.7       4.30/+0.51"
JUN     66.0/-1.8       5.55/+1.10"
JUL     71.6/-0.8       5.63/+1.55"
AUG     72.7/+1.8       5.40/+2.02"
SEP     63.9/+0.8       8.37/+4.39"
OCT     49.8/-1.5       4.07/+0.88"
NOV     45.1/+4.3       4.40/+0.78"       .1/-2.9"   
DEC     31.8/+1.1       4.42/+1.48"     13.7/+7.2"
=====================================================
WILLIAMSPORT ANNUAL SUMMARY

AVG TEMP        49.4   0.4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
TOTAL RAINFALL  53.20  11.61 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
TOTAL SNOWFALL  55.9   16.0 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL

$$

LA CORTE