January and February 2023 were each more than 8°F warmer than usual at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. By December the year had become the third warmest and 15th wettest recorded in Appomattox County, Virginia, since 1895.
The "back lane" at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Credit: NPS/B.M.
Weather, and climate
The Mid-Atlantic Inventory and Monitoring Network tracks weather and climate as one of the park's ecosystem "vital signs." Weather is what happens in the atmosphere from minutes to months — the rain or sun outside right now. Climate is what you expect from patterns over 30 years or more: climate is the hot summer you expect, weather the warm rainy day you get. The figures are county-scale data from NOAA's Climate at a Glance program, compared with the 1895–2022 averages.
Temperature
The year averaged 58.1°F, 2.5°F above normal. Nine months were warmer than usual; winter and fall stood out.
| Month | Average (°F) | Departure (°F) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 43.9 | +8.4 |
| February | 47.3 | +9.9 |
| March | 48.8 | +3.2 |
| April | 58.8 | +3.8 |
| May | 62.6 | −1.3 |
| June | 68.6 | −3.2 |
| July | 76.9 | +1.4 |
| August | 74.1 | 0.0 |
| September | 68.1 | +0.4 |
| October | 59.0 | +2.4 |
| November | 46.4 | +0.3 |
| December | 43.0 | +5.4 |
Where 2023's seasons ranked among years since 1895. Credit: NPS.
Precipitation
In all, 50.17 inches fell — 7.65 inches above normal — though it came unevenly. July alone brought 10.52 inches, 6.28 more than usual, while March and October were more than an inch and a half dry.
| Month | Total (in.) | Departure (in.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 3.45 | +0.14 |
| February | 3.33 | +0.31 |
| March | 1.35 | −2.32 |
| April | 5.27 | +1.89 |
| May | 2.82 | −1.07 |
| June | 5.22 | +1.51 |
| July | 10.52 | +6.28 |
| August | 4.98 | +0.85 |
| September | 3.90 | +0.29 |
| October | 1.43 | −1.88 |
| November | 2.31 | −0.68 |
| December | 5.59 | +2.31 |
The long view
Since 1895, the county's average annual temperature has risen about 0.1°F per decade and its annual precipitation about 0.33 inches per decade. NPS scientists project that by 2100 the park's average temperature will rise 2.9–8.6°F, from the best-case to the worst-case scenario, and annual precipitation 8–14 percent.
Annual temperature and precipitation for Appomattox County, 1895–2023, with trend lines. Credit: NPS.
Sources
Based on "2023 Weather in Review: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park" from the National Park Service's Mid-Atlantic Inventory and Monitoring Network, a work of the United States government in the public domain. Data: NOAA's nClimDiv dataset; projections from Gonzalez and others (2018).
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