Bluestone National Scenic RiverPage 9 of 21
Bluestone National Scenic River in 2021: the 24th warmest year, with a very warm December
The Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network measures ecosystem "vital signs" in national parks in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and weather and climate are one of them. Its summary for Bluestone National Scenic River averages county-scale data for Mercer and Summers counties, West Virginia, the counties around the park, from 1895 on. The data and analyses come from NOAA's Climate at a Glance program.
Little Bluestone River. NPS photo.
Weather versus climate
Weather is the short-term change in the atmosphere, over minutes to months: rain, snow or a warm sunny day. Climate is what the long-term pattern, over 30 years or more, leads you to expect. The summary's shorthand is that climate is what you might expect, such as a hot summer, and weather is what you get, such as a warm rainy day. The 2021 figures are judged against that long record.
2021 month by month
The year was warm and slightly dry, ending as the 24th warmest and 51st driest on record. Average temperature was 53.1 °F, 1.0 °F above the long-term average, and 39.05 inches of precipitation fell, 2.05 inches below it. Only five months were warmer than normal, but October (+5.2 °F) and December (+8.9 °F) were far above their averages. Departures compare 2021 with the averages for 1895 to 2020.
| Month | Average temperature (°F) | Departure (°F) | Precipitation (in.) | Departure (in.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33.1 | +1.1 | 3.89 | +0.67 |
| February | 32.7 | -1.4 | 4.58 | +1.54 |
| March | 45.6 | +3.5 | 4.52 | +0.70 |
| April | 50.5 | -1.1 | 2.62 | -0.84 |
| May | 58.1 | -2.5 | 2.16 | -1.81 |
| June | 67.7 | -0.0 | 4.28 | +0.34 |
| July | 70.9 | -0.3 | 2.84 | -1.60 |
| August | 72.8 | +2.8 | 5.03 | +1.28 |
| September | 64.1 | -0.1 | 3.65 | +0.66 |
| October | 58.7 | +5.2 | 3.05 | +0.30 |
| November | 40.0 | -2.8 | 0.92 | -1.71 |
| December | 43.1 | +8.9 | 1.52 | -1.59 |
| Year | 53.1 | +1.0 | 39.05 | -2.05 |
The long trend
Over the long term, annual average temperature in the two counties has risen by about 0.04 °F per decade and annual total precipitation has fallen by about 0.09 inch per decade since 1895.
Figure from the National Park Service's page: annual average temperature (°F) and annual total precipitation (in.) for Mercer and Summers counties, with dashed lines for linear estimates of change.
Looking ahead, Park Service scientists' models estimate that by 2100 the park's annual average temperature will rise by 2.9 to 8.6 °F, from the best-case to the worst-case scenario, and that annual total precipitation will rise by 6 to 11 percent (Gonzalez and others, 2018, give the details).
Sources
- National Park Service, Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network, "2021 Weather In Review: Bluestone National Scenic River" (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/2021-weather-in-review-bluestone-national-scenic-river.htm); the two seasonal-ranking charts and the seasonal claims, which disagree with the monthly tables, are left out; rewritten in hubnx's own words.