Published: July 19, 2009 11:35 pm      

Where’s our summer? Temperatures well below normal, data show

This summer has been one of the coldest in many years – by a sizable margin – according to State College-based Accu-Weather.

That’s no surprise to residents, who sometimes have had to wear a light jackets.

What is a surprise, however, is that this summer also is one of the driest in years.

Although there were many days when it rained – 17 alone in June – rainfall totals were light in most cases.

That’s the opposite of this month.

Except for the first three days of July, there were only two other days when it rained – July 11 and July 16. Both of those rainfalls were light.

The cooler than normal weather in the Northeast could point to a cold, snowy winter for the Northeast and mi d-Atlantic states, said Joe Bastardi, AccuWeather.com’s chief meteorologist and long-range forecaster.

For people across the Great Lakes, Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, this has been the coolest summer in more than a decade, he said.

After a period of classic summer heat in the coming weeks, cooler weather is expected to continue the trend of the “year without true summer,” he said.

While no single factor is causing the unusually cool weather, the combination of El Nino and worldwide volcanic activity the past nine months may have played a role, he said.

El Nino is a weather phenomenon that can cause changes in weather patterns around the globe and produce a major effect in the United States, especially during the winter, he said.

In past years, cool summers have been followed by harsh winters, he said.

The cool and wet weather in June was not good for farmers wishing to bale hay, said Robert Davis, president of the Cambria County Farm Bureau.

Davis, who grows hay, corn and soybeans, said that although hay grew well, farmers needed two or three days of nice weather for the hay to dry out before being baled. It wasn’t until the past two weeks that the weather was suitable for baling, the Colver resident said last week.

Most of the corn crop in Cambria County looks good, he said.

Soybeans are doing well also, he said.

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said the cool and wet conditions have created an environment in which fungi-borne toxins can thrive.

The cool, drizzly weather also has affected recreational facilities.

Robin Gates, Windber Borough administrative assistant, said attendance at the swimming pool at the borough-owned Windber Recreation Park in June was lower than usual.

“Because of the rain, there were several days in which we were not able to open the pool,” she said.

“We have picked up quite a bit now because we’ve had two weeks of beautiful weather. It’s busy,” Gates said Thursday, before cooler weather arrived.

According to the weather station atop The Tribune-Democrat in downtown Johnstown, it rained on 17 days in June. Most of the rainfall was light.

June had plenty of days when the high temperatures climbed to between the mid-70s and lower 80s, according to the newspaper’s records. There were four days when high temperatures only reached the lower 60s, about 20 degrees below normal.

Normal high temperatures for June range from 79 degrees at the beginning of the month to 85 at the end of the month.

July started off cooler than normal with high temperatures 10 to 12 degrees below the normal high temperature of 86 degrees for the first five days.

Since July 6, temperatures had been close to normal until a chilly weekend.

The hottest day of the summer so far was Thursday, when the mercury reached 90 degrees.