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2020 Central PA Christmas weather roundup
Published Dec 27, 2020 12:45 AM EDT | Updated Dec 27, 2020 12:45 AM EDT
As (I try to) do every year since I started blogging in 2005, today I'll take a look at the weather here in State College, Pennsylvania versus history. See also my blog from earlier this week about national weather on Christmas Day 2020 compared to history.
Christmas Weather in State College, Pennsylvania 2005-2020
This year ended up breaking a few records. It was the coldest 3 PM temperature since 2005, and the coldest high temperature at the University Park Airport. Penn State, however, which measures the day differently, was slightly warmer than 2017, which holds the coldest Christmas record.
It was only the second time in 15 years that we have had measurable snow on Christmas. We also had the snowiest month of December through the 25th, beating 2005 by 1.2 inches, but it had mostly melted after heavy rain all day Christmas Eve Day, before we got a couple dustings of snow overnight and Christmas Day this year, so 2005 retains the most snow on the ground on Christmas Day. (If we went looked back to 2002, however, we had a White Christmas with 8.8 inches of snow).
Most of the area did have some sort of snow cover either remaining on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Creeks and rivers rose rapidly after the heavy rain on December 24 -- totalling 2.43" at Penn State -- and our local gauge peaked at its 2020 high flood stage, where it flooded into nearby fields.
The day after Christmas, the river in nearby Harrisburg peaked.
Here are my Instagram photos from 2011-2020, all taken on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, in central Pennsylvania: