2019 Weather In Review: Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Photo by Daveynin/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 2019 weather conditions at Fort Necessity National Battlefield.

In all, 2019 was very warm and wet. The year ended as the 9th warmest and 13th wettest since 1895. Weather data collected from surrounding areas from 1895–2019 show increasing trends in annual average temperature (+0.03 °F per decade) and annual total precipitation (+0.34 inches per decade).

Information in this brief represents county-scale weather data for Fayette County, PA. Individual weather station data may vary from what is reported here. Data are available from the National Climate Data Center.

Temperature

In total, 2019 was the 9th warmest year at the park since 1895. Spring and summer were particularly warm (Figure 1). Nine months had higher than normal temperatures, with February, May, and December all being at least 4 °F above normal (Table 1).

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	28.8	+1.1
February	34.4	+5.0
March	37.0	-1.4
April	52.6	+3.5
May	63.7	+4.6
June	66.1	-1.0
July	72.7	+1.9
August	69.6	+0.3
September	67.0	+3.7
October	55.5	+3.4
November	37.4	-3.5
December	35.2	+4.0
2019	51.7	+1.8

_{Table 1. Monthly and annual average temperature and departure from long-term averages. Departures from average show how different 2019 was compared to relevant averages from 1895-2018.}

Precipitation

In total, 2019 was the 13th wettest year at the park since 1895 (Figure 2). By the end of the year, the area received 52.7 inches of precipitation, which is 7.3 inches more than the long-term average (Table 2).

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	4.3	+0.8
February	6.2	+3.3
March	2.2	-1.7
April	4.5	+0.6
May	6.5	+2.2
June	5.9	+1.1
July	4.7	-0.1
August	4.3	+0.2
September	1.8	-1.7
October	4.4	+1.3
November	2.6	-0.6
December	5.3	+1.9
2019	52.7	+7.3

_{Table 2. Monthly and annual total precipitation and departure from long-term averages. Departures from average show how different 2019 was compared to relevant averages from 1895-2018.}

Temperature and Precipitation Trends
(1895-2019)

Data from 1895–2019 for Fayette County, PA show increasing trends in annual average temperature (+0.03 °F per decade) and annual total precipitation (+0.34 inches per decade; Figure 3).

Figure 3. Annual average temperature (°F) and annual total precipitation (in.) for counties surrounding the park from 1895–2019. Dashed lines represent linear trends.

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. Click here 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.

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