Warmer temperatures coming to Western Pa., forecasters say

The temperatures have dipped as of late, but Western Pennsylvania should warm up soon, says the National Weather Service.

How about the sun? Well, let’s not get greedy.

“Right now … the outlook calls for a warmer than normal conditions and possibly wetter than normal conditions,” said meteorologist Timothy Cermak of the summer months June, July and August.

As of Tuesday, he was unable to predict exactly how much warmer it could be on average.

“That’s tough to say,” Cermak said. “We just know that based on global circulations, the patterns will favor warmer than normal conditions on average.”

Last summer was the warmest summer in Western Pennsylvania on record since 1995, he said.

The average high temperatures in the area for the past five years during the months of June, July and August combined, according to Cermak, include:

• 85 degrees in 2024
• 80 degrees in 2023
• 82 degrees in 2022
• 82 degrees in 2021
• 84 degrees in 2020

In any given year, the average high temperature in the summer is 83 degrees, according to National Weather Service records in Moon.

“We’re pretty consistent,” Cermak said. “When we say warmer than normal, it will probably be in that sort of range.”

However, that doesn’t mean the summer won’t see any “cool spells,” he said.

In terms of precipitation, Cermak said this summer could be “possibly stormier than normal,” but that can come in different ways. There could be more days of precipitation overall or heavier precipitation on a fewer number of days.

Total precipitation numbers for June, July and August together during the last five years include:

• 10.79 inches in 2024
• 11.15 inches in 2023
• 10.08 inches in 2022
• 13.7 inches in 2021
• 10.97 inches in 2020

Cermak said the normal accumulation for that period is 11.9 inches, and 2021 was the only recent year to exceed that.

In Western Pennsylvania’s wettest summers, the highest ever was 17.9 inches in 1879. The most recent high was 15.79 inches in 2019, he said.

“Patterns will be more favorable for summer for active weather — kind of like we’ve been having,” he said, citing recent periods of storms. “That may be more likely than the average summer.”