BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley experienced a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather to close out 2024 — transitioning from a bone-dry period with unseasonably warm temperatures to a deluge of rain, snow, powerful wind gusts and brutal cold.
The headline of 2024 belonged to drought and its related effects, which dominated the news cycle for months.
The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said eight of its nine climate stations set records for the driest October on record, as well as station records for driest calendar month.
🏜️ 8 of our 9 climate stations set new monthly records for driest October, as well as all time station records for driest calendar month. Many of the records broken were from October of 1924 or 1963, which was previously the driest month in the area. (1/4) #PAwx #NJwx #DEwx #MDwx pic.twitter.com/64YaTjnrqi
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) November 1, 2024
Many of the records broken were from October 1924 or 1963, which was previously the driest month in the area, the weather service said.
Allentown recorded just two-hundredths of an inch of rain, marking both its driest October ever and its driest month on record.
The previous records, respectively, were 0.15 of an inch (October 1963 for driest October ever) and 0.09 of an inch (May 1964 for driest month ever).
‘Fire on the Mountain’
With the dry conditions came the potential for explosive fire growth.
On Nov. 2, a blaze engulfed Blue Mountain that grew so quickly it forced officials to recall firefighters and pull them off the mountain.
It was too dangerous to fight the growing blaze at night, township firefighter and safety officer Lee Boehning told LehighValleyNews.com.
As it burned, "the Gap fire" grew from 150 acres to almost 600, becoming the largest brush fire the area has seen in more than two decades.
All told, it was 40 days before the fire was declared officially extinguished.
The investigation into the blaze continues, with no point of origin or cause yet determined, officials said a few weeks ago.
It was among a string of fast-moving brush fires that erupted during months of severe drought conditions, creating a bounty of tinder-dry fuels.
Record warmth to unseasonable chill
Warm weather followed our driest month ever, with multiple records tied or broken in a 10-day span heading into November.
The mercury soared to 82 degrees on Halloween at Lehigh Valley International Airport, breaking the old record of 81 set in 1950.
Election Day, Nov. 5, saw a high of 75, tying the mark set in 1935.
The trend of above-average warmth continued the next day, with the weather service reporting several high-temperature records tied or broken at climate sites before noon.
But the mild stretch didn’t last.
By Nov. 21, the forecast turned blustery, chilly, wet and white. A winter storm walloped the Poconos, and daytime highs were nearly cut in half in a 24-hour period.
The final 10 days of the month featured an average temperature of just 41 degrees — a nine-degree departure from the first 20 days of November, which had an average of 50.1 degrees.
The coldest air of the season followed, with Arctic blasts creating frigid conditions to kick off December.
The area recorded its first official snowfall days before the arrival of the winter solstice, marking the shortest day of the year and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
What’s next?
NOAA’s outlook for the next three months continues to suggest the early cold spell might not be a sign of things to come in terms of a pattern that will fully dominate winter.
Much like the official U.S. Winter Outlook released in October, updated seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks still favor warmer-than-average temperatures across the southern tier of the United States to the eastern Great Lakes, eastern seaboard and into New England.
Probabilities of above-average temperatures remain strongest along the Gust Coast and most of Texas, with a 40-50% chance of above-normal temperatures in much of the mid-Atlantic.
The Lehigh Valley, which remains in drought status, still has equal chances for above- or below-average precipitation through February 2025.
"January is without a doubt our 'winter' with what continues to appear to be near to slightly above average precipitation, at least slightly below average temperatures during the coldest climatological period of the year, and above average snowfall."Meteorologist Bobby Martrich of EPAWA Weather Consulting
But Lehigh Valley-based meteorologist Bobby Martrich, of EPAWA Weather Consulting, says things are not that cut and dry.
Martrich said the back half of the first week of January through much of the remainder of the month could feature "sustainable cold relative to average."
"January is without a doubt our 'winter' with what continues to appear to be near to slightly above average precipitation, at least slightly below average temperatures during the coldest climatological period of the year, and above average snowfall," Martrich said.
February is a bit too far to project, he said, but looks like a tossup between things turning milder with "more of a La Niña-ish look" or colder than average temperatures.
"There's no clear signal that indicates how long it lasts," Martrich said. "January is higher than usual confidence, but February can go either direction."
On Dec. 27, the Washington Post reported that January's outlook is "by far the most favorable look we've had in years for moderate or even major snowstorms" across the region.
