To track ecosystem health, the National 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 among them. This is the 2023 summary for Bluestone National Scenic River, using data averaged across Mercer and Summers counties, West Virginia, from 1895 through 2023, courtesy of NOAA's Climate at a Glance program.
Bluestone National Scenic River. Credit: National Park Service / Dave Bieri.
Weather or climate? Weather is what the atmosphere is doing now and over minutes to months; climate is what you expect based on patterns of 30 years or more. Climate is the hot summer you expect; weather is the warm rainy day you get.
2023 at a glance
A very warm, somewhat dry year: the 9th warmest and 37th driest since 1895.
Temperature
The year averaged 53.8°F, 1.7°F above the 1895–2022 average. Winter was very warm and spring cold. Eight months were warmer than normal, with January (+7.1°F) and February (+9.0°F) especially mild.
| Month | Average (°F) | Departure (°F) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 39.0 | +7.1 |
| February | 43.1 | +9.0 |
| March | 44.0 | +1.8 |
| April | 53.5 | +2.0 |
| May | 58.2 | −2.4 |
| June | 63.7 | −4.0 |
| July | 71.8 | +0.6 |
| August | 69.7 | −0.4 |
| September | 64.7 | +0.4 |
| October | 55.3 | +1.8 |
| November | 42.5 | −0.3 |
| December | 39.8 | +5.5 |
2023 temperature rankings by season and for the year; an arrow at the top would mean the warmest since 1895. Winter = January–March, spring = April–June, summer = July–September, autumn = October–December. Credit: National Park Service.
Precipitation
37.49 inches fell, 3.63 inches below the long-term average.
| Month | Total (in.) | Departure (in.) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 2.77 | −0.47 |
| February | 4.36 | +1.30 |
| March | 2.11 | −1.70 |
| April | 4.17 | +0.73 |
| May | 4.51 | +0.54 |
| June | 2.01 | −1.92 |
| July | 5.22 | +0.78 |
| August | 3.68 | −0.08 |
| September | 2.19 | −0.81 |
| October | 1.30 | −1.46 |
| November | 1.71 | −0.92 |
| December | 3.46 | +0.37 |
2023 precipitation rankings by season and for the year; an arrow at the top would mean the wettest since 1895. Credit: National Park Service.
The long view
Since 1895, annual average temperature in the two counties has risen about 0.04°F per decade, while annual precipitation has fallen about 0.08 inches per decade.
Annual average temperature and total precipitation, 1895–2023; dashed lines show the linear trends. Credit: National Park Service.
Park Service scientists project that by 2100, annual average temperature at the park will rise 2.9–8.6°F, from the best-case to the worst-case scenario, and annual precipitation 6–11% (Gonzalez et al., 2018). Climate change is already altering wildlife migrations, bringing more destructive storms and disrupting habitats; the NPS climate change site explains more.
Sources
Based on "2023 Weather in Review: Bluestone National Scenic River," Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
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