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2020 Weather In Review: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

An overlook view of fall foliage and the New River.
David Smith / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
In order to better understand ecosystem health in national parks, the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network measures ecosystem "vital signs" in select national parks in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. One of those vital signs is weather and climate. Below is a summary of 2020 weather conditions at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

This brief provides county-scale weather data averaged from all of the counties surrounding the park, including data from 1895–2020 (i.e. period of record). These counties include Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, West Virginia. Individual weather station data may vary from what is reported here. Data are available from the National Climate Data Center.

Weather vs. Climate

First of all, what is the difference between weather and climate? Weather consists of the short-term (minutes to months) changes in the atmosphere. Weather is what is happening outside at this very moment, be it rain, snow, or just a warm sunny day. Climate is what you expect to see based on long-term patterns of over 30 years or more. An easy way to remember the difference is that climate is what you might expect, like a hot summer, and weather is what you get, like a warm rainy day.

The following information includes a discussion of 2020 weather placed in the context of long-term climate (i.e. how did 2020 compare to a "normal" year?).

2020 Summary

In all, 2020 was very warm and also had much higher than normal precipitation. The year ended as the 10th warmest and 4th wettest on record. Weather data collected from surrounding areas indicate that annual average temperature and annual total precipitation have both increased over the last century (+0.04 °F per decade and +0.05 inches per decade, respectively).

Temperature

n total, 2020 was the 10th warmest year ever recorded at the park. All of the seasons were warmer than normal except the spring, which was very cold (Figure 1). Eight months had higher than normal temperatures with January, February, March, and November all being more than 4.9 °F above long-term averages (Table 1).

Figure 1. Average temperature rankings for Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, WV. The figure shows that the winter and autumn were "much above normal," the summer was "above normal," and the spring was "much below normal."
Figure 1. Seasonal and annual temperature rankings for counties surrounding the park. An arrow at the top of the figure would represent the warmest year/season on record (since 1895); at the bottom, the coldest year/season on record.
Month/Year Average temperature (°F) Departure from
long-term average (°F)
January 37.1 +5.7
February 38.6 +4.9
March 48.5 +6.5
April 48.7 -3.1
May 58.1 -2.7
June 66.8 -1.0
July 74.2 +2.9
August 71.5 +1.3
September 63.3 -1.2
October 55.9 +2.2
November 47.8 +4.9
December 34.0 +0.1
2020 53.7 +1.7


Table 1. Monthly and annual average temperature and departure from long-term averages. Departures from average show how different 2020 was compared to relevant averages from 1895-2019.

Precipitation

It was a very wet year, ranking as the 4th wettest on record for the three counties surrounding the park (Figure 2). In total, 56.9 inches of precipitation fell, almost 13 inches more than the long-term average (Table 2).

Figure 2. Average precipitation ranking for Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, WV. The figure shows that spring and winter were "much above normal," the summer was "above normal," and the autumn was "near normal." In all, 2020 was "much above normal.
Figure 2. Seasonal and annual precipitation rankings for counties surrounding the park. An arrow at the top of the figure would represent the wettest year/season on record (since 1895); at the bottom, the driest year/season on record.
Month/Year Total precipitation (in.) Departure from
long-term average (in.)
January 3.1 -0.5
February 6.5 +3.4
March 4.4 +0.3
April 7.0 +3.3
May 6.2 +2.0
June 6.3 +2.0
July 4.0 -0.9
August 6.5 +2.4
September 3.6 +0.5
October 3.3 +0.4
November 2.3 -0.6
December 3.7 +0.4
2020 56.9 +12.7

Table 2. Monthly and annual total precipitation and departure from long-term averages. Departures from average show how different 2020 was compared to relevant averages from 1895-2019.

Temperature and Precipitation Trends
(1895-2020)

Data for Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, WV indicate that annual average temperature has increased approximately +0.04 °F per decade and annual total precipitation has increased approximately +0.05 inches per decade since 1895 (Figure 3).

National Park Service scientists have forecast future changes in climate too. Models estimate that by 2100, annual average temperature at the park will increase by 2.9–8.6 °F (from a best-case to worst-case scenario, respectively). Annual total precipitation is expected to increase by 6–11% (see Gonzalez et al., 2018 for details).
Line graph of annual average temperature (°F) and annual total precipitation (in.) for Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, WV from 1895–2020 showing increases in both parameters.
Figure 3. Annual average temperature (°F) and annual total precipitation (in.) from 1895–2020 for Fayette, Raleigh, and Summers counties, WV. Dashed lines represent linear estimates of change.

Climate Change

Today's rapid climate change challenges national parks in ways we've never seen before. Wildlife migrations are altered, increasingly destructive storms threaten cultural resources and park facilities, habitat is disrupted—the list goes on. To read about the effects of climate change at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, visit the park's climate change website.

For more information, contact Mid-Atlantic Network Biologist, Jeb Wofford or Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network Program Manager, Matt Marshall.

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New River Gorge National Park & Preserve

Last updated: February 17, 2021