To track the health of ecosystems in national parks, the Park Service's Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network monitors "vital signs" at parks in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Weather and climate are among them. This is the 2022 summary for Johnstown Flood National Memorial, using county-level data for Cambria County, Pennsylvania, from 1895 through 2022, courtesy of NOAA's Climate at a Glance program.
The Unger Farm. Credit: National Park Service.
Weather or climate? Weather is what's happening in the atmosphere now and over minutes to months — rain, snow, a warm sunny day. Climate is what you expect from long-term patterns of 30 years or more. Climate is what you expect, like a hot summer; weather is what you get, like a warm rainy day.
2022 at a glance
2022 was slightly warmer and wetter than normal: the 42nd warmest and 36th wettest year on record.
Temperature
The year averaged 47.6°F, 0.5°F above the long-term average. Summer was especially warm; the other seasons were closer to normal. Eight months were warmer than usual, and February, March and November were each more than 2°F above average.
| Month | Average (°F) | Departure (°F) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 20.9 | −3.6 |
| February | 28.1 | +2.3 |
| March | 37.8 | +2.9 |
| April | 44.6 | −1.2 |
| May | 58.5 | +1.8 |
| June | 66.0 | +1.3 |
| July | 69.9 | +1.2 |
| August | 68.5 | +1.5 |
| September | 60.9 | +0.4 |
| October | 47.2 | −2.4 |
| November | 40.6 | +2.1 |
| December | 28.1 | −0.5 |
Departures are from the 1895–2021 average.
2022 temperature rankings by season and for the year; an arrow at the top would mean the warmest on record since 1895. Winter = January–March, spring = April–June, summer = July–September, autumn = October–December. Credit: National Park Service.
Precipitation
46.8 inches fell, 2.88 inches more than the long-term average, and three of the four seasons were wetter than usual.
| Month | Total (in.) | Departure (in.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 2.96 | −0.39 |
| February | 5.43 | +2.60 |
| March | 2.70 | −1.10 |
| April | 4.00 | +0.28 |
| May | 5.66 | +1.43 |
| June | 4.18 | −0.37 |
| July | 3.97 | −0.42 |
| August | 4.74 | +0.88 |
| September | 4.11 | +0.49 |
| October | 2.03 | −1.15 |
| November | 4.36 | +1.21 |
| December | 2.66 | −0.56 |
2022 precipitation rankings by season and for the year; an arrow at the top would mean the wettest on record since 1895. Credit: National Park Service.
The long view
Since 1895, Cambria County's annual average temperature has risen about 0.1°F per decade, and annual precipitation about 0.46 inches per decade.
Annual average temperature and total precipitation, 1895–2022; dashed lines show the linear trends. Credit: National Park Service.
Park Service scientists project that by 2100, the park's annual average temperature will rise by 3.2–9.4°F, from the best-case to the worst-case scenario, and annual precipitation by 6–12% (Gonzalez et al., 2018).
Rapid climate change is challenging parks in new ways: altered wildlife migrations, more destructive storms threatening cultural resources and facilities, and disrupted habitats. The NPS climate change site explains what is happening and how to help.
Sources
Based on "2022 Weather in Review: Johnstown Flood National Memorial," Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Data from NOAA's NClimDiv dataset.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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