Pocono weather: Stroudsburg's longest heat wave in a decade is over. What's next?

Kathryne Rubright, Pocono Record

Last week’s heat wave in the Poconos was the longest since 2013, and the earliest long heat wave in eight decades.

For six days, from Tuesday, June 18, to Sunday, June 23, Stroudsburg saw high temperatures in the 90s, “the longest such stretch since July 14-20, 2013,” emailed Ben Gelber, a meteorologist and Pocono weather expert.

“The last time the Poconos experienced a protracted heat wave so early in the season was a 10-day period from June 19-28, 1943,” he added.

The scorching temperatures were caused by a “heat dome,” Gelber explained, which “originated in the Desert Southwest and northern Mexico. Broadly sinking air promoted extreme heating by compressing the air mass, like pumping up a bicycle tire that becomes hot to the touch.”

Stroudsburg didn’t set records, though – highs of 94 on Friday and 95 on Saturday were “a few degrees shy of the daily records for June 21 and 22 (100 in 1953 and 97 in 1921),” Gelber said.

Jul 28, 2023; columbus, ohio, usa; NBC Meterologist Ben Gelber sits in an office that adjoins the newsroom called the “Storm Center” where he is able to study the weather. Gelber has been a meterologist for NBC for over 40 years.
Jul 28, 2023; columbus, ohio, usa; NBC Meterologist Ben Gelber sits in an office that adjoins the newsroom called the “Storm Center” where he is able to study the weather. Gelber has been a meterologist for NBC for over 40 years.

“Your lawn may be feeling the heat, too. Stroudsburg has received only .84 inch of rain in June,” he said Monday.

This follows Stroudsburg’s second-wettest winter on record, with 18.85 inches of precipitation (about 7 more than normal) from December through February. April and May saw “substantial totals” of 4.83 inches and 5.87 inches, respectively.

Long-term, a bit of relief should follow the heat wave.

“The heat buildup in recent weeks is related to the transition from a strong El Niño (warm water in the eastern equatorial Pacific) to a likely cooler La Niña by the fall,” Gelber said.

“The long-range pattern heading into early July should feature shorter blasts of heat and humidity, interrupted by cold fronts that bring a better chance for much-needed showers,” he added.

As of Monday evening, the National Weather Service was forecasting highs near 87, 90, 82 and 84 in Stroudsburg for Tuesday through Friday.

Kathryne Rubright is the managing editor of the Pocono Record and the Tri-County Independent. Reach her at krubright@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Pocono heat wave over; 'shorter blasts of heat' to start July

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