The Park Service's Mid-Atlantic Inventory and Monitoring Network tracks ecosystem "vital signs," including weather and climate. This summary covers 2023 at Petersburg National Battlefield, using county-level data averaged across Dinwiddie, Hopewell and Prince George counties, Virginia, from NOAA's Climate at a Glance program, with records back to 1895.
Weather is the atmosphere's short-term changes; climate is the pattern expected over 30 years or more — climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.
NPS photo.
2023 at a glance
| 2023 | Compared with 1895–2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average temperature | 60.2°F | +2.1°F — much warmer than average; the 2nd-warmest winter on record |
| Total precipitation | 45.49 in | +1.11 in — near normal (57th wettest year); a dry winter |
Temperature
Nine months were warmer than normal, with January and February each more than 7°F above average.
| Month | Average (°F) | Departure (°F) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 45.5 | +7.3 |
| February | 48.8 | +8.7 |
| March | 50.2 | +2.1 |
| April | 60.6 | +3.4 |
| May | 64.0 | −2.4 |
| June | 71.2 | −3.2 |
| July | 79.9 | +1.8 |
| August | 77.4 | +0.8 |
| September | 70.6 | +0.1 |
| October | 61.1 | +1.9 |
| November | 48.2 | −0.8 |
| December | 45.1 | +4.6 |
Seasonal and annual temperature rankings for the park's counties; an arrow at the top would mark the warmest on record. NPS.
Precipitation
| Month | Total (in) | Departure (in) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 3.25 | −0.12 |
| February | 2.50 | −0.58 |
| March | 1.81 | −1.97 |
| April | 5.58 | +2.23 |
| May | 3.14 | −0.82 |
| June | 4.58 | +0.42 |
| July | 5.33 | +0.36 |
| August | 3.78 | −0.86 |
| September | 5.76 | +1.92 |
| October | 1.21 | −1.96 |
| November | 2.13 | −0.66 |
| December | 6.42 | +3.15 |
Seasonal and annual precipitation rankings for the park's counties; an arrow at the top would mark the wettest on record. NPS.
Long-term trends and the future
Since 1895, both temperature and precipitation have risen in the park's counties — about +0.1°F and +0.41 inches per decade.
Annual average temperature and total precipitation, 1895–2023; dashed lines show linear trends. NPS.
Park Service scientists project that by 2100, the park's annual average temperature will rise 2.7–8.3°F, from best- to worst-case scenarios, and annual precipitation will increase 8%–13% (Gonzalez and others, 2018). Rapid climate change already challenges parks, altering wildlife migrations, threatening cultural resources and facilities with more destructive storms, and disrupting habitat.
Sources
Based on "2023 Weather in Review: Petersburg National Battlefield," Mid-Atlantic Inventory and Monitoring Network, National Park Service, using NOAA NClimDiv data; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
收录于这些专栏Petersburg National Battlefield
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