There’s a decent chance that September 2022 will be warmer than normal in the Northeast. Source: NOAA Climate Prediction Center

September Climate Outlook, Summer Recap and Drought Update for the Northeast

5 min readSep 1, 2022

On this first day of September, there’s a lot of climate news to cover for the Northeast.

Some highlights, including findings in an international report on Earth’s climate in 2021:

— Drought persisted or expanded across much of the Northeast in the week ending at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, according to today’s U.S. Drought Monitor update.

— Drought may persist in much of the Northeast through November, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

Drought in the Northeast has Worsened and May Last Through November

— August was hotter than normal in most of the Northeast. The hottest spots — in parts of New England, New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania — were 4 degrees to 6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center. Last month was the hottest August on record at eight of 35 major climate sites in the Northeast. It ranked among the 20 hottest at 22 other sites. August was also among the 20 all-time hottest months on record at 19 major climate sites. August, similar to July, had an unusually large number of days with highs of at least 90 degrees and lows of 75 or above.

— Newark, New Jersey, had its hottest summer (June through August) on record. Another 27 major climate sites had among their 20 hottest summers on record, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center.

—There are elevated fire weather concerns today in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island as a result of moderate to significant drought across the region. Relative humidity values will drop to near 35 percent this afternoon, with northwest gusts between 15 and 25 mph. Any fire could spread rapidly in these conditions, according to the National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA office.

—Record low warm temperatures were set or tied on Aug. 30 in parts of Maine, including Caribou, Houlton and Bangor, according to the weather service office in Caribou.

—Also on Aug. 30, the mercury hit 90 degrees in Newark, New Jersey, for the 18th day last month — the most in an August since record-keeping began in 1931, according to the weather service office that covers the area.

— September may be warmer than normal in the Northeast and it may also be drier than normal in much of the region, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

— At the top of 6,288-foot Mount Washington in New Hampshire, however, the wind chill was 20 degrees at 12:56 p.m. today, with winds gusting to 69 mph, according to the Mount Washington Observatory.

—In Caribou, Maine, the warmest September temperature on record was 92 degrees on Sept. 1, 2010. The coldest: 23 degrees on Sept. 29, 1980. Frost is possible any time in September and becomes increasingly likely in the second half. The earliest 32-degree or lower reading was on Sept. 3, 1976, and Sept. 20 is the average date for the first freezing temperature. Snow is rare in September, with the earliest trace on Sept. 13, 1963. The earliest measurable snowfall (2.1 inches) was on Sept. 29, 1991, according to the weather service office in Caribou.

— Average fall temperatures (in September through November) have risen by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit across the United States since 1970, according to Climate Central, an independent non-profit group of scientists and communicators. Some regions, including the Northeast, have had more warming than others. Warmer fall temperatures boost the risks of heat-related illness, insect-borne disease, allergies and poor air quality.

—Last year, levels of the Earth’s major greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) hit new record highs, according to the international State of the Climate in 2021 report led by scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Lake surface temperatures were the highest on record, while ocean heat and global sea-level rise also hit record levels, according to the report published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The global carbon dioxide concentration averaged 414.7 parts per million (plus or minus 0.1 ppm) last year — 2.6 ppm (plus or minus 0.1 ppm) more than in 2020. This is the highest level in the modern record and in ice core records over 800,000 years.

Record Rainfall and Flooding in parts of Northeast from Ida’s Remnants

More images, including some on the impacts of Hurricane Ida’s remnants a year ago and two of my recent photos in New Hampshire: