Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono break high temperature records

Kathryne Rubright, Pocono Record
Updated ·2 min read
The fire danger was very high on Thursday, April 13, 2023, as shown on the Smokey the Bear sign on Route 209 in Bushkill entering Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Stroudsburg and Mount Pocono both set new high temperature records on Thursday, April 13, and Friday, April 14.

Stroudsburg hit 90 degrees on Thursday, shattering its 1977 record of 86 degrees, and Mount Pocono's high of 82 degrees surpassed its record of 81 degrees, also from 1977, according to Ben Gelber, meteorologist and Pocono weather expert.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, reported that multiple other locations in the region set records. Like Stroudsburg, the Atlantic City International Airport record went up 4 degrees, from 83 (set in 2018) to 87.

On Friday, Stroudsburg again reached 90 degrees, which Gelber noted was "the earliest back-to-back occurrence of 90-degree heat. The previous record was Apr. 16-17, 2002."

The previous record high for that date was 86 degrees, set in 2018.

Mount Pocono's high on Friday was 84 degrees, surpassing the 1941 record of 82 degrees.

"Certainly, dry soil is playing a role, in addition to an extraordinary pattern of high pressure at most levels of the atmosphere from the Canadian border to the Midwest promoting fair skies and subsiding air that warms the lower atmosphere," he said.

"Weekend clouds and some showers from a Gulf storm lifting northeast will lower readings to the 70s. A strong cold front crossing the state Sunday evening will bring much cooler weather earlier next week, with some additional welcome rainfall," Gelber said.

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The Poconos were at a very high fire danger on Wednesday and Thursday, and the same was forecast on Friday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Prior to the weekend rain, Stroudsburg had 4.02 inches of precipitation since Feb. 1, compared to a normal amount of 9 inches, and only about one-third of an inch had fallen during April, Gelber said.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: High temperatures in the Poconos shatter records