Weather of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site and Valley Forge National Historical Park: Mid-Atlantic Network summary report for 2016
Wofford JE. 2017. Weather of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site and Valley Forge National Historical Park: Mid-Atlantic Network summary report for 2016. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/MIDN/NRDS—2017/1101. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Mid-Atlantic Network (MIDN) weather and climate monitoring protocol supports the documentation of current status and long-term trends in air temperature and precipitation at multiple temporal and spatial scales in MIDN parks. The purpose of this report is to provide a concise weather and climate summary for Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (HOFU) and Valley Forge National Historical Park (VAFO) for the time period of January 1 to December 31, 2016. HOFU and VAFO are located in the Southeastern Piedmont climate division of Pennsylvania. In 2016, a total of six weather stations were selected to report park weather and climate conditions, and a large suite of precipitation and temperature metrics were summarized. Ultimately, 2016 was a very warm year and ranked as the 4th warmest on record for the Southeastern Piedmont. All of the seasons were warmer than average, and the summer of 2016 was the warmest ever recorded in the Southeastern Piedmont of Pennsylvania. In terms of precipitation, most seasons were near to or below normal. The autumn of 2016 was particularly dry. In total, the year was the 100th wettest (i.e. 23rd driest) since 1895. By the end of 2016, abnormally dry to severe drought conditions were occurring across much of Pennsylvania.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Wofford, John
- Date of Issue
- 2017-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- HOFU , MIDN , NRSS , VAFO
- Keywords
- Climate, Monitoring, Weather, Weather Monitor
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Weather and Climate | Weather and Climate