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2022 Weather in Review: Petersburg National Battlefield

Cannons pointing out towards a pink sunset

NPS photo

In order to better understand ecosystem health in national parks, the Mid-Atlantic Inventory and Monitoring Network measures ecosystem "vital signs" across the Mid-Atlantic region. One of those vital signs is weather and climate. Below is a summary of 2022 weather conditions at Petersburg National Battlefield.

This brief provides county-scale weather data averaged from all of the counties surrounding the park, including data from 1895–2022 (i.e., period of record). These include Dinwiddie, Hopewell, and Prince George counties, VA. Data and analyses herein are courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate at a Glance Program.

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 2022 weather placed in the context of long-term climate (i.e., how did 2022 compare to a "normal" year?).

2022 Summary

In all, 2022 was warmer than average and had precipitation that was just below normal. It was the 21st warmest year and 52nd driest year on record (since 1895) in the park’s three counties.

Data indicate that over the long term, annual average temperature and annual total precipitation have both increased (+0.1 °F per decade and +0.41 inches per decade, respectively).

Temperature

In total, 2022 was the 21st warmest year ever recorded at the park with all seasons except autumn being warmer than normal (Figure 1). Nine months had higher than normal temperatures with February and March both being more than 3.8 °F above long-term averages (Table 1).

Figure 1. 2022 average annual and seasonal temperature rankings for counties surrounding the park.
Figure 1. Seasonal and annual temperature rankings for park counties. 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. Winter = Jan–Mar, Spring = Apr–June, Summer = July–Sept, Autumn = Oct–Dec.

Table 1. Monthly and annual average temperature and departure from long-term averages. Departures from average show how different 2022 was compared to relevant averages from 1895-2021.

Month/Year Average temperature (°F) Departure from
long-term average (°F)
January 36.6 −1.5
February 44.3 +4.2
March 51.9 +3.9
April 58.7 +1.5
May 68.2 +1.8
June 74.9 +0.6
July 80.0 +1.8
August 77.6 +1.0
September 71.4 +0.9
October 56.7 −2.5
November 51.8 +2.9
December 39.9 −0.6
2022 59.4 +1.2

Precipitation

Total park precipitation for 2022 was just below normal, though the winter and autumn were wet and the summer was particularly dry (Figure 2). In all, 42.4 inches of precipitation fell, about 2 inches less than the long-term average (Table 2).

Figure 2. 2022 average annual and seasonal precipitation ranking for counties surrounding the park.
Figure 2. Seasonal and annual precipitation rankings for park counties. 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. Winter = Jan–Mar, Spring = Apr–June, Summer = July–Sept, Autumn = Oct–Dec.
Table 2. Monthly and annual total precipitation and departure from long-term averages. Departures from average show how different 2022 was compared to relevant averages from 1895-2021.

Month/Year Total precipitation (in.) Departure from
long-term average (in.)
January 5.51 +2.16
February 1.77 −1.32
March 4.57 +0.79
April 2.60 −0.75
May 4.25 +0.29
June 3.54 −0.62
July 4.43 −0.54
August 3.23 −1.42
September 1.95 −1.91
October 2.68 −0.48
November 3.68 +0.90
December 4.21 +0.96
2022 42.44 −1.96

Temperature and Precipitation Trends
(1895-2022)

Data for counties surrounding the park indicate that annual average temperature has increased approximately +0.1 °F per decade and annual total precipitation has increased approximately +0.41 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 2.7–8.3 °F (from a best-case to worst-case scenario, respectively). Annual total precipitation is expected to increase by 8–13% (see Gonzalez et al., 2018 for details).

Figure 3. Line graph of annual average temperature (°F) and annual total precipitation (in.) for counties surrounding the park from 1895–2022 showing increases in both parameters.
Figure 3. Annual average temperature (°F) and annual total precipitation (in.) from 1895–2022 for the counties surrounding the park. 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. Go to the NPS Climate Change site to discover how climate change is affecting our nation's treasures, what the National Park Service is doing about it, and how you can help.

A summary of the Mid-Atlantic Network's weather and climate monitoring program can be found here. For more information, contact Mid-Atlantic Network Biologist, Jeb Wofford. Data included in this article were obtained from NOAA's NClimDiv dataset (version v1.0.0-20230106).

Click here to download a printable version (pdf) of this article.

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Petersburg National Battlefield

Last updated: December 13, 2023