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At New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, 2020 ranked as the 10th warmest and 4th wettest year in the record that begins in 1895. A total of 56.9 inches of precipitation fell, almost 13 inches more than the long-term average, and the annual average temperature was 53.7 °F, 1.7 °F above it.
The figures come from a National Park Service summary by the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network, which measures ecosystem "vital signs," including weather and climate, in selected parks in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The numbers are county-scale averages for Fayette, Raleigh and Summers counties, West Virginia, the counties around the park, so individual weather stations may differ. The data are available from NOAA's National Climate Data Center.
Weather and climate
The summary separates the two. Weather is the short-term change in the atmosphere, from minutes to months. Climate is what to expect from long-term patterns of 30 years or more: climate is a hot summer, weather is a warm rainy day. Departures below are measured against averages for 1895 to 2019.
Temperature, month by month
Eight of the twelve months were warmer than the long-term average. April, May, June and September were cooler.
| Month | Average temperature (°F) | Departure from long-term average (°F) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 37.1 | +5.7 |
| February | 38.6 | +4.9 |
| March | 48.5 | +6.5 |
| April | 48.7 | -3.1 |
| May | 58.1 | -2.7 |
| June | 66.8 | -1.0 |
| July | 74.2 | +2.9 |
| August | 71.5 | +1.3 |
| September | 63.3 | -1.2 |
| October | 55.9 | +2.2 |
| November | 47.8 | +4.9 |
| December | 34.0 | +0.1 |
| Year | 53.7 | +1.7 |
Precipitation, month by month
| Month | Total precipitation (in.) | Departure from long-term average (in.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 3.1 | -0.5 |
| February | 6.5 | +3.4 |
| March | 4.4 | +0.3 |
| April | 7.0 | +3.3 |
| May | 6.2 | +2.0 |
| June | 6.3 | +2.0 |
| July | 4.0 | -0.9 |
| August | 6.5 | +2.4 |
| September | 3.6 | +0.5 |
| October | 3.3 | +0.4 |
| November | 2.3 | -0.6 |
| December | 3.7 | +0.4 |
| Year | 56.9 | +12.7 |
The long trend
For the three counties, annual average temperature has risen by approximately 0.04 °F per decade and annual total precipitation by approximately 0.05 inches per decade since 1895.
Annual average temperature and annual total precipitation, 1895 to 2020. Dashed lines are linear estimates of change. Chart from the National Park Service's page.
National Park Service scientists have also forecast change. 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.
Climate change in the parks
The summary says rapid climate change challenges national parks in new ways: wildlife migrations are altered, more destructive storms threaten cultural resources and park facilities, and habitat is disrupted. It points readers to the park's climate change web page.
Sources
- National Park Service, Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network, "2020 Weather In Review: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve": https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/2020-weather-in-review-new-river-gorge-national-park-and-preserve.htm. The page's lead photograph, credited to a Flickr photographer under CC BY 2.0, and its seasonal-ranking graphics are left out.
- National Park Service; rewritten in hubnx's own words.
In these publicationsNew River Gorge National Park & Preserve
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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