Chapter 25: 2015 Annual Wrap-Up
Overall, 2015 ended up just like 2001 temperature-wise, with an annual average of 52.5, just 0.3 degrees above 2001's annual mean of 52.2. What caused this year to win was not necessarily how many months won for the year, but just like all the individual months of 2016, how close they were to another year's temperature mean. The very warm November and December in 2015, similar to 2001, caused 2001 and 2015 to be similar to each other. Of course, most people will judge a year by its last 2 months of the year temperature-wise. Now, it seems like most people will forget that 6 out of 8 months between March and October of this past year (March, April, June, July, September, and October) had 2005 win for them, rather than 2001. The key thing is here, that, 2001 and 2005 fought many battles in 2015 for winning. March 2001 and 2005 had the exact same temperature mean: 35.3. Difference is, March 2005 had 1 or 2 warm days at the end, as March 2015 did, while March 2001 did not have any. Both 2001 and 2005 had a mild April follow their cold March, and if it were not for the cool spell towards the end of April 2015, 2001 would have definitely won, as 2001 had quite a handful of summer-like days in April. Moving on to summer months, June and July were kind of opposite each other in 2001 and 2005. Numerous hot spells in June and July of 2015 caused 2005 to win, rather than 2001, because as we all know, 2005 was a very hot summer in the Pittsburgh area, while the summer of 2001 was just slightly below average. September 2001 and September 2005 were polar opposites, though. September 2001 was cool, while September 2005 was warm, and September 2015 ranked even warmer than 2005. Also, when the El Nino pattern began in late October, that was when the real battle between 2001 and 2005 began. The Halloween high caused 2005 to win instead of 2001, and also 2001 featured slightly more warmer days than 2005 did. Then came November. Once 2001 won for both November and December, 2005 winning everything was a distant memory, as November 2005 featured some winter-like weather later in the month, and December 2005 was quite cold, as well. November 2015 ranked as Pittsburgh's 4th warmest November on record and December 2015 ranked as Pittsburgh's 2nd warmest December on record, and 2001 had record warmth with these 2 months, as well. As for 1995 and 2009, I am not discussing them as much, because 2009 actually had the coldest average of the group, and 1995 won for just 1 month: February. Which year do you personally think 2015 was another version of, based on how many months won or the proximity to the annual temperature? 1995, 2001, 2005, or 2009? Post a comment in the reviews section and let me know what you think!