Highlights of 2014 Thus Far

August 6, 2014 // Article by: Christina Speciale
 
Now that we have reached the halfway point of 2014, it’s interesting to look back and learn how the Northeast has trended in both the temperature and precipitation departments thus far in the year. Did the anomalously cold pattern from January to March have an impact on the temperature departure for the first 6 months of the year? How did the exceptionally wet April influence precipitation totals? Let’s take a look back at the year’s highlights and answer some of these questions.
 

As seen in the graph below, the first three months of the year featured exceptionally cold temperatures in the midst of a record breaking winter before trending back to and even slightly rising above normal during the spring. The coldest days by far occurred in January with high temperatures on 12 – 15 days failing to reach the freezing mark. In fact, on 3 – 5 frigid days, temperatures only rose into the teens. However, the honors for the coldest monthly temperature departure goes to March averaging 5 – 7 degrees below normal. It even ranks among the top ten coldest March months on record. Interestingly, January, February and March all ended cooler than normal which was the first time the Northeast has had consecutive months fall below normal since the 2010 – 2011 winter.

Even when the Northeast finally entered spring, temperatures struggled to warm. In fact, the month with the warmest departure was May at just a meager 1 – 2 degrees. Considering the sharply cold winter season combined with a lackluster warm trend during the spring, it comes to no surprise that most along the I – 95 corridor ran cooler than normal the first half of 2014. Both Baltimore, MD and Hartford, CT ranked the first six months of 2014 among their top ten coolest on record.

In the precipitation department thus far in 2014, the Mid Atlantic and New England finished on opposite ends of the spectrum. Across the board, the Northeast saw a surplus of snowfall in January and February with the biggest event of the season occurring February 12 – 13th. Here, 1 – 2 feet of snow buried nearly everyone from southern New England to Washington D.C. While those in Massachusetts and New Hampshire did not see a historic blizzard this winter, a few coastal storms produced intense ocean - enhanced snow bands that dumped localized 15 - 25 inch amounts in northern New England. By March, the Mid Atlantic saw a parade of back to back winter storms as strong high pressure over the Northeast continually suppressed storms southward. While places like Dulles, VA recorded their snowiest March on record, those from northern New Jersey to New England had a 5 – 10 inch snow deficit.

Once spring was in full bloom, an impressive heavy rainfall event hit most from New Jersey to Maryland April 30th – May 1st. Up to 3 – 6 inches of rain inundated the region causing many rivers and creeks to surpass flood stage with even a few reaching record crest heights. Those in Rhode Island and Massachusetts missed out on the heaviest rain, topping out just between 1 and 2.5 inches. While the remainder of spring was without additional extreme rain events, severe storms led to localized flooding on a few occasions in May and June with even an unusual severe storm outbreak on May 22nd producing destructive hail in eastern Pennsylvania and New York.

 

Taking a look at how the region faired precipitation-wise the first six months of 2014, we see that New England ended up near to even slightly below while folks from New York City through Baltimore ended up 4 – 8 inches above normal. In fact, the 7.79 inch rain surplus in Philadelphia made the period from January – June the 5th wettest on record while Baltimore and New York City ranked it 9th and 11th wettest, respectively.

Above graph from Northeast Regional Climate Center

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