September weather in Berks County

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There were a lot of dreary days to end September, and not a lot of rain fell, though opportunities were there. But it was just enough rain to prevent last month from getting on the 10 driest Septembers list at an official Berks County site.

The month ended at 1.08 inches at Reading Regional Airport, the National Weather Service site. The 10th-driest September is 0.95 inch from 1983. The precipitation database begins with 1869, one of the longer databases in U.S. records,

Retired meteorologist Jeffrey R. Stoudt, who is the founder of the Berks Area Rainfall Networks, said, "Months of September over the 12-plus decades of well-documented weather records for the Reading area include numerous representations of very wet, very dry, about average and in between. While 1.08 inches is much below the average of 4.88, 13 months of September had even less, plus one other that also tallied 1.08.

"Even so, the low total for this September would correctly suggest the lack of any major rain events. The greatest 'storm' of 0.40 inches occurred on the 7th, which was a brief interruption of a very long fair-weather streak that stretched from the beginning of this September all the way to the autumnal equinox on the 22nd."

There were many cool nights last month and little need for air conditioners, but the monthly average temperature of 68.6 degrees was still 1.6 above normal and much closer to the 10 warmest Septembers list than the 10 chilliest.

"A substantial temperature deficiency developed by the 10th," Stoudt added. "After the 10th, every day was at or warmer than normal, but none by much. None of the daily departures, warm or cool, was more than 9 degrees from normal. No date temperature or precipitation record was challenged."

The dreary weather kicked in at the autumnal equinox.

"Persistent meager precipitation dampened only topsoil, but that might have been beneficial for many lawns and gardens," Stoudt said. "Unlike earlier in September, persistent dense overcast kept the daily ranges of temperatures rather narrow. The range on the 29th was only 3 degrees: 63 to 66."

Stoudt also took a look at heating-degree days, a metric often used by utilities. The benchmark is an average temperature of 65 degrees. A heating-degree day occurs for every degree below 65 in the average temperature.

"This September accrued only 10 HDD," he said. "September 1921 also marked 10. Only September 1968 had fewer with nine HDD. The most HDD in September was 144 during September 2000. The long-term average is 65 HDD."

He added that two unusually early HDD occurred during the cool end of August.

While the 1.08 inches recorded at Reading Regional was low, totals were noticeably lower at other official sites in the region overseen by the weather service office in Mount Holly, N.J., including Philadelphia 0.77; Atlantic City, N.J., 0.56; Trenton, N.J., 0.43, Wilmington, Del., 0.33; and Georgetown Del., 0.29.

Those were top-10-driest in those spots. Allentown at 1.3 inches was the top total in the Mount Holly coverage area. Not far away, rainfall totals were near normal, such as Harrisburg at 4.69.

In Berks County, September rainfall totals tallied mostly within a narrow range of 1 to 1.5 inches, Stoudt said.

"North-central Berks got a bit more: Strausstown, 2.21, and Shartlesville, 2.10. ... Some folks in western and north-central Berks heard thunder late evening of the 22nd. Otherwise, thunder was unusually completely unheard in Berks this September."

Loose ends

To illustrate the quantity of records, the Berks precipitation database is longer than the Philadelphia record period by three years. However, the temperature database for Berks, which begins with 1898, is not as long as Philadelphia's, which starts with 1872.

September 1983 is the 10th driest. That month saw hot conditions linger, including the latest 100-degree day in a year on Sept. 10. The summer of 1983 had 49 90-degree days, a record that still stands.

And what made that summer even more peculiar was that it was in the middle of the coldest period on record for Berks and many other places, the 1970s and '80s.

September 1983 didn't even make the 10 warmest Septembers list because when the pattern changed, it reverted to typical conditions for that era, meaning much colder.

The current September "normal" rainfall of 4.88 inches is inflated from previous normals. The 4.88 is the average of the Septembers from 1991 through 2020, and pumped up by the heavy rainfall years to conclude the end of last decade.

The National Weather Service considers normal to be the average of the previously completed three decades.

The September average for the 1981 to 2010 period was 4.34 inches.

Even with the 1.08 last month, the average of the four Septembers this decade is 4.89 inches, led by 8.22 inches in September 2021.

The same thing goes for the temperature average in Berks.

September's has continued to climb, with the 1991 to 2020 period figured at 66.9 degrees.

Though none of the Septembers this decade have made the 10-warmest all-time list, they are still nudging up the average. The September average in the partial decade is 68.5 degrees.

A new set of normals will be calculated at the end of 2030 and start in 2031.