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November left Berks cold after mild October

Last month was a chill pill after the warmth of October and that month’s top-five finish in the Berks records for Octobers.

Berks weather historian Jeffrey R. Stoudt noted that the difference in the average temperature from October to November, 61.5 to 42.2 degrees, was nearly double the usual drop at 19.3 degrees.

November slammed the door on the warmth of October with several mornings in a row early on with subfreezing temperatures, bringing out windshield scrapers a bit earlier than usual in what has been mostly a warm period this century.

But despite the warm period, other Novembers have been pretty cold recently: 2019 at 40.6 degrees; 2014 at 41.0 degrees and 2018 at 41.5 degrees. None of them got into the top 10 for coldest, which would require 40.4 degrees, but they were in the next 10.

Meanwhile, November 2020 was the other extreme: at 49.5 degrees it was the third-warmest November in the 123-year temperature database.

The cold facts

The list of the 10 coldest Berks Novembers has been undisturbed since 1996. The coldest-10 list that has been undisturbed the longest is June and that’s been since 1992, the Mount Pinatubo-cooled year.

The 10-coldest lists are heavily populated with months from the cold periods in the records: the first two decades of last century and the 1970s through 1996.

But there are some exceptions, including February 2015, Marches in 2014 and 2015, April 2018, May 2005 and Julys in 2000, 2001 and 2009 to name most of them.

Months this century are more likely to be on 10-warmest lists. In 11 of the 12 months, this century has at least three entries among the respective warmest 10.

The exception is January, which only has 2006 as eighth warmest.

Berks rainfall

The November rainfall total at Reading Regional Airport was 1.56 inches, which is 1.46 below the normal total of 3.02, or a little more than half of normal.

Normal is now the average of the years 1991 through 2020 and, at 45.71 inches, has the highest annual total of any of the 30-year blocks in the full record period since 1898.

But November was not given a big boost by 1991-2020 like many of the other months.

A significant precipitation deficit has been building since Sept. 24.

The 60-day departure from normal for Berks is about 35%, according the latest statistics from the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center, a division of the National Weather Service.

It’s a recent phenomenon, however, since the same agency shows the entire year at 45.3 inches of precipitation, and a surplus of nearly 3 inches.

That 45.3-inch total is about 10% more than the 2021 total of 41.14 at Reading Regional, which was 0.56-inch below normal at the end of the month. The deficit has stretched to nearly an inch.

The airport has consistently been among the driest spots in Berks in 2021 as it has been many other years.

The automated equipment was installed there in early 1999 and it has been the official National Weather Service site since.

Rainfall totals from Stoudt’s Berks Area Rainfall Networks ranged from 1.12 inches in Bechtelsville to 2.50 inches in Hamburg. The full list of sites is running with this story at readingeagle.com.

The forecast

Expect partly sunny skies with a high in the mid-40s on Sunday followed by a subfreezing overnight, according to AccuWeather.

Then a brief warm-up is expected Monday with mild air surging into the region, a high in the mid-60s and a passing shower, possibly warm enough to open windows.

AccuWeather’s forecast for Tuesday is sunny and cold with a high near 40 degrees and clouds gathering late in the day or in the evening.

There’s a chance of snow showers early Wednesday, with any snow changing to rain during the day and a high in the upper 30s, AccuWeather says.

The long-range forecast is light on snow icons until the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

AccuWeather’s Christmas forecast for Berks at the moment is 46 degrees and overcast.

November weather in Berks

Temperature: 42.2°

Normal: 44.4°

Precipitation: 1.56″

Normal: 3.02″

Records: None

Snowfall: None

Source: National Weather Service

Precipitation totals from the Berks Area Rainfall Networks included:

Hamburg, 2.50 inches; Pine Grove, 2.38; Shartlesville, 2.32; Topton, 2.20; Boyers Junction, 2.14; Wernersville (N), 2.01; Mohnton (Northridge), 1.93; Henningsville, 1.92; Muhlenberg Park, 1.91; Wernersville (S), 1.90; Landis Store, 1.89; Wyomissing, 1.88; Cornwall Terrace and Midvale Manor, 1.85; Scarlets Mill, 1.83; Lincoln Park, 1.82; New Morgan, 1.80; Gibraltar and Mohnton (1), 1.79; Mohrsville and Womelsdorf, 1.78; Kutztown, 1.76; Bernville, 1.75; Mohnton (2), 1.71; Rock Hollow Woods, 1.71; Vinemont, 1.65; Knauers, 1.63; Greenfields and Shillington, 1.60; Sinking Spring, 1.58; Reading (Hillside), 1.56; West Reading, 1.54; Wyomissing (Highlands), 1.53; Adamstown, 1.51; Lobachsville, 1.48; Reading (near City Park), 1.45; Cumru Township building, 1.44; Reiffton, 1.42; Morgantown and South Mountain, 1.41; Douglassville and Newmanstown, 1.40; Jacksonwald, 1.39; Hopewell Park, 1.33; Pikeville, 1.29; Pricetown, 1.27; Boyertown, 1.26; Bally, 1.23; State Hill, 1.22; Oley, 1.15; and Bechtelsville, 1.12.


Source: Berkshire mont

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