Local warming: September among warmest on record

With roughly 99 percent of the votes counted, this month is projected to become the fifth-warmest September in Philadelphia in records dating to 1874.

The average temperature for the month is going to finish at 73.5 by the National Weather Service's calculation, just behind the 73.8 of 2005, No. 4 on the list.

The overall warmth of the month probably explains why the last few days have seemed so cruelly cool and dreary, ripe for eating and sleeping.

On five days this month, the temperature hit 90 or better; the September average is 1. Temperatures were below normal on only a handful of days.

Rainfall is going to finish in the 3.5-inch range, which is close to normal. But before the wet spell that set in this week, measurable rain had fallen only on two days.

As we have noted, by the U.S. government's calculation, the world has experienced record temperatures for 16 consecutive months.

What happens locally doesn't necessarily parallel what happens globally, but overall Philadelphia's temperature trends have stayed in step with the globe's.

Of the five-warmest Septembers in Philadelphia, three have occurred since 2005, and No. 6 was in 2010.

That said, we point out that the warmest was September 1881 with the No. 3 figure being repeated in 1930 and 1931.

Here is the Top 6 list:

75.4 -1881

74.5 -2015

74.1 -1931 74.1 -1930

73.8 -2005

73.5 -2016

72.9 -2010 72.9 - 1921