Warming winters: December about 7 degrees above normal in Stroudsburg
In 2023, Stroudsburg and Mount Pocono both had their fourth-warmest and fourth-wettest Decembers on record.
Stroudsburg averaged 37.3 degrees and received 8.91 inches of precipitation, according to meteorologist and Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber, who added that the temperature “was nearly 7 degrees above normal.”
Mount Pocono’s average temperature was 34.8 degrees, and it got 9.07 inches of precipitation.
“Drenching coastal storms Dec. 10-11, 17-18 and 27-28 delivered 2 to 4 inches of rain in the region, with totals as high as 4.7 inches at Mount Pocono on Dec. 17-18,” Gelber said.
Typically, precipitation totals a little more than 4 inches for the whole month, he said.
Very little of December’s precipitation was snow. Stroudsburg received less than half an inch, and the Pocono Plateau had less than 3, Gelber said.
“The warmth was a by-product of El Nino,” Gelber said, which is “abnormally warm water in the subtropical eastern and central Pacific promoting a mild westerly jet stream flow across the nation, shunting arctic air farther north, with only brief incursions.”
But it’s also another data point reflecting a warming climate.
“Decembers, along with winters as a whole, locally, have been trending milder in recent decades,” Gelber said. “Since 2011, a remarkable 11 of 13 Decembers have been warmer than normal, including five of the six warmest on record.”
Globally, 2023 was the hottest year on record.
More: 2023 was Earth's hottest year, experts say
"We are engaged in an unprecedented experiment with our planet," University of Pennsylvania meteorologist Michael Mann told USA TODAY. "There is still time to prevent devastating climate consequences, but the window of opportunity is shrinking."
Kathryne Rubright is the managing editor of the Pocono Record and the Tri-County Independent. Reach her at krubright@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Pocono weather: December 2023 was fourth-warmest on record
