Posted on Sun, Nov. 8, 2009
By Anthony R. Wood
The region's rooftops, car hoods, and open fields were coated with white yesterday morning, and for the first time this season the official temperature at Philadelphia International Airport fell below the freezing point, hitting 31 degrees at 4:59 a.m.
And while Nov. 7 may seem late for the first official freeze of the season, by recent standards that is relatively early.
October freezes used to be routine, but the airport temperature hasn't dropped to 32 before Oct. 31 since 1992, the longest such streak in the 136-year period of record.
During the last 10 years, the average for the first freeze date - when the temperature hits 32 at the official measuring station - is Nov. 13. In the chilly 1960s, the average was Oct. 28.
Granted, some suburban areas already had experienced below-freezing temperatures. The airport site is next to the tempering Delaware River and a marsh. However, the airport hosts the city's official thermometer, the source of the oldest valid record available.
Problems with the site aside, worldwide warming likely has contributed to the first-freeze delay, but the region has had other clusters of warm autumns.
During a 15-year stretch at the turn of the 20th century, for example, the average first freeze date was Nov. 17.
Contact staff writer Anthony R. Wood at 610-313-8210 or twood@phillynews.com.
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