Stroudsburg hits highest temperature since 2013 amid dry summer
Stroudsburg experienced its hottest day in nine years on Thursday, Aug. 4, hitting 96.2 degrees.
That’s the highest mark since the borough reached 96 degrees on July 18, 2013, according to meteorologist and Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber. It’s been hotter, though: the record is 98 degrees, set in 1930 and 1944.
Thursday “is the third day in a row and 10th time this summer we've reached 90 or higher,” Gelber emailed. “The dry soil is aiding the heat this summer, with only 2 inches of rain since late June (3 inches below normal).”
July’s average temperature — calculated using the mean of every day’s high and low — was 74 degrees, including highs above 90 from July 20 to 24, Gelber said. Stroudsburg’s highest temperature in that stretch was 95 degrees on July 24, and Mount Pocono, which typically runs a bit cooler, topped out at 88 degrees on July 23 and 24.
That July average is consistent with the immediate past decade, but an increase over the prior few decades.
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“During the past decade (2011-2020), the average July temperature in the Stroudsburg area was 74.1 degrees, compared to 71.8 during the previous 30-year climatological period (1981-2010). June and August were also running warmer, though by a smaller margin closer to 1 degree Fahrenheit,” Gelber said.
“A persistent heat dome stretching from the Four Corners states to the Mississippi Valley has been responsible for extreme heat, with readings as high as 110 to 115 degrees in Texas and Oklahoma,” he added.
Gelber also noted this summer has had “a dearth of tropical activity that has produced only three named storms and no hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin. Dry, dusty, and stable air over the main development region spanning the tropical Atlantic to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico has prevented storms from forming.”
That could change: “Peak hurricane season begins in mid-August, so there is still time for the Atlantic storm season to perk up.”
It was in mid-August last year that Tropical Storm Fred brought a little over 4 inches of rain to Stroudsburg, soaking the ground before Tropical Storm Henri and the remnants of Hurricane Ida passed through, repeatedly causing flooding in the Poconos.
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This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Stroudsburg hits sweltering temps amid dry 2022 summer
