September, 2000

Published monthly by the North Jersey Weather Observers

Volume XVIII Number 9 September 27, 2000

http://njwo.tripod.com

Important Reminders:

· This months meeting is September 27^th, at 7:30 pm. Club members will meet at the Bergen County Museum of Art and Sciences.

· Please remember to send all correspondence to be printed in “The Weather Shelter” in electronic format.

· This month's speaker will be our very own State

Climatologist and past club president, Dave Robinson. Dave will speak on "Is NJ's Climate Changing?"

NORTH JERSEY WEATHER OBSERVERS - MEETING - Wednesday, August 30, 2000 -

The evening was mostly cloudy and 77 degrees when the meeting was called to order at 7:58 p.m. The secretary and treasurer conducted the meeting until the president arrived. Founding member Bob Draper was introduced. He wants to become active again after being out of the area for many years. The rest of the 11 members present also introduced themselves.

We talked about recent weather events for a while, including the day of 14 inch rainfall in Sparta and a minimum of 39 degrees at another location. Each member described his home station and types of record kept.

President Keith Galley announced that he has a job interview in Elmira

tomorrow. [Secretary's note: The interview was successful. Keith will be

moving to Elmira, New York, shortly and working for WETM television, Channel18, an NBC affiliate. Welcome to my state.]

Our guest speaker was Matthew Georgescu, a graduate student at Rutgers University who showed some video of conditions at the top of Mount Washington, where he spent two summers, and then described his research on numerical model forecasting.

The next meeting is Wednesday, September 27, at 7:30. The scheduled

speaker is David Robinson.

Dennis O'Keefe,

Secretary

Subject: August in New Paltz

New Paltz, New York - August 2000 Summary

from Dennis O'Keefe

Average maximum: 78.4

Average minimum: 61.5

Monthly average: 70.0

High temperature: 86 on the 8th and 9th

Low temperature: 48 on the 21st

Precipitation: 3.30 inches

Seven days with fog

Four thunderstorm days

Highlights: 18 days with highs only in the 70s. 15 days with rain, with the greatest single day only 0.61.

MONTHLY SUMMARY - AUGUST, 2000

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA.

August weather conditions continued a pattern established during July: frequent precipitation, oppressive humidity and cooler than usual temperatures with no extreme heat.

Temperatures averaged 72.8 degrees with only one day yielding a high of 90 or more (7th). Precipitation occurred on 20 days yet totaled below normal in King of Prussia (3.42”). Some areas in the region received excessively higher totals due to erratic showers & thunderstorms. No severe weather occurred locally. Tropical storm/hurricane activity during the month was fairly active. There were four named storms:

Alberto, Beryl, Chris & Debbie. Only Debbie posed a potential threat to the U.S. mainland. Alberto became the longest lasting storm in the month of August and the third longest on record as it meandered & looped around in the Atlantic. It became a hurricane 3 separate times during its journey.

On the 1st, light showers occurred overnight and in the evening; thunderstorms moved by to the NNW. On the 3rd into the 4th, a storm system caused heavy showers with embedded thunderstorms during the evening & overnight hours, dropping well over an inch of rain. The 5^th turned out to be an excellent summer day with abundant sunshine through deep blue sky, low humidity, an afternoon high in the low 80s and gusty north winds. It was, in fact, one of the best fair weather days of the month as well as the season.

Clouds returned on the 6th with sprinkles & some light rain occurring early in the afternoon and again in the early evening. Hot & oppressively humid conditions prevailed on the 7th under mostly cloudy-partly sunny skies. Early in the evening a heavy, gusty thunderstorm brushed by my station area to the north. Wind gusts reached speeds of 20-30mph. The core of the storm moved through nearby Norristown where a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued.

From the 11th-14th, a stalled low pressure system along the eastern seaboard triggered the development of slow moving and stationary showers & thunderstorms on each day. Some areas in the mid Atlantic region were clobbered with heavy rains, flooding & storm damage while

others were left relatively unscathed, such as King Of Prussia. As low pressure developed over eastern Pennsylvania on the 11th, scattered thunderstorms cropped up and moved through this locality early in the

afternoon and again early in the evening. Less than 1/4 inch of rain total from both storms was measured.

On the 12th, weather conditions in King Of Prussia were mostly benign except for a mid afternoon shower with distant thunder to the ESE. Elsewhere, major storm events took place: In northwestern NJ, 10-14 inches of rain resulted in catastrophic flooding. Sparta was particularly hard hit. Heavy rain & thunderstorms occurred along western NJ as well as extreme eastern & southeastern Pennsylvania. In northern Chester County, a severe thunderstorm uprooted trees, caused property damage and dropped 1/2 inch hail. The thunderstorm was part of a cluster that looped around the area starting toward the ESE, moving by south then curving to the west. Rainfall at my station totaled 0.15”.

The 13th remained cloudy & very humid with ENE breezes. Sprinkles occurred late in the afternoon. On the 14th, there was a period of rain with embedded thunderstorms from late morning through mid afternoon as the stalled storm system began to move northward then away from the region.

Following a typical summer day on the 15th, humidity lowered and winds turned WNW on the 16th in the wake of a cold front that moved through before dawn. A sprinkle with a distant thunder- storm to the SSW accompanied its passage. Sunshine faded behind increasing cloudiness on the 17th as another storm system arrived from the west, causing some late afternoon sprinkles. King Of Prussia established a new record low of 60 degrees. Occasional light showers occurred on the 18th and light fog developed. Temperatures were unseasonably cool an varied little, ranging from a record low of 61 to a high of 67.

The 19th-22nd were primarily sunny with pleasant afternoon temperatures in the upper 70s to the low 80s(22nd) with low humidity. A storm system produced gusty south winds and light mid afternoon showers on the 23rd. Light fog developed in the evening. On the 24th, cloudiness & a sprinkle gave way to partial sunshine and humid conditions. Fair weather prevailed on the 25th & 26th.

From the 27th-31st, clouds and high humidity dominated and scattered light rain, showers & thunderstorms developed occasionally. Stalled low pressure along the eastern seaboard that retrograded westward turned winds to the ENE while creating muggy, humid conditions. On the 27th, thunderstorms developed around this locality during the late afternoon & evening. Light rain from a nearby thunderstorm centered to the east late in the evening provided 0.16”. A period of steady rain occurred the morning of the 31st.

Observer: Michael Cerio

Station: King Of Prussia, Pa.

County: Montgomery

Elevation: 185’