We will likely hit 80 degrees this week in the WNEP Backyard, probably more than once. This would be the first time we hit 80 this year in northeastern Pennsylvania, the warmest air so far this spring. If we do reach 80, that wouldn’t be too far off from a typical spring season.
The average first 80-degree day of the year for the Scranton area is April 25, which ironically is also the date of the average last 32-degree day of the season. So if we hit 80 this week, which we are forecasted to do on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, that would only be a little more than a week ahead of schedule.
It has already hit 80 degrees in Williamsport this season, on March 31. That was about three weeks ahead of the average date of April 20 in Central Pennsylvania.
In Scranton, we’ve been just a few days off from that average date, seeing the first 80-degree day of the season sometime in the middle or end of April for the past 5 years. But in 2020 and 2019, it didn’t happen until mid-May.
Since record keeping began more than 100 years ago, the earliest we hit 80 degrees here in the Scranton area was on March 13, 1990. The latest first 80-degree day of the year happened 20 years ago, in 2006, when it didn’t hit 80 until May 28.
We may be on record watch later this week. The record for Wednesday in Scranton is 85 degrees, set back in 1994. And the record for Thursday is 88, set back in 2012.
According to the National Weather Service, we see about 70 days a year with temperatures above 80 degrees in the Scranton area and about 85 days a year in the Williamsport area.
The average last 80 degrees for the year is September 30.