Rain-soaked brown leaves. Temperatures in the 50s. Ice skates hanging in the closet. Umbrellas in hand.
While Jack Frost seems to have finally settled in for the Christmas season, the fall of 2011 will be remembered in Schuylkill County for its unseasonable weather, which frustrated some farmers and discouraged some outdoor enthusiasts, but kept local dams full.
"The temperature has been above normal virtually all year long, and it's been wetter than normal," John LaCorte, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service, State College, said last week.
"The weather has gotten more erratic and a lot of our groundwater tables are up very high. Fortunately, the ground has not frozen. If it had, the water would have run off," said Patrick M. "Porcupine Pat" McKinney, environmental education coordinator for the Schuylkill Conservation District, Pottsville.
The average temperature this time of year in Schuylkill County is 33.2 degrees.
"But this year, we're averaging 37.4 degrees," LaCorte said. The first day of winter is Dec. 22.
The last time Schuylkill County experienced similar fall weather was 2006. That year, the average temperature in October was 51.6 degrees. This year, it was 50, while the normal temperature for October is 49. In November 2006, the average temperature was 48.3 degrees. This year, it was 44, and the normal temperature for November is 41.7, LaCorte said.
"So you're not burning as much heating oil," LaCorte said.
Jeff Swope, communications manager for UGI Utilites, based in Reading, Berks County, said the warm weather this fall drove demand down.
"November's weather was approximately 17 percent warmer than normal, so we would expect to see a commensurate reduction in usage. At this point, it's still too early to say how much of an impact it had. We don't have data on residential usage for November," Swope said.
UGI's Utilities, based in Reading, Berks County, serves about 340,000 customers in 15 southeastern Pennsylvania counties. In Schuylkill County, it serves more than 3,500 customers, Swope said.
Along with the warmer-than-usual temperatures, it's also been a rainy year.
In an average year, there's 52.73 inches of rain in Schuylkill County. So far this year, there have been 74.67 inches of rain, LaCorte said.
On Thursday, Patrick Caulfield, executive director of the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, Pottsville, said the authority's six dams were all at 100 percent capacity.
"Right now, we are way over the averages. As far as the reservoirs, we are completely full and overflowing at all of our facilities, which is uncommon for this time of year. Last year at this time, they were at 70.5 percent. In 2009 at this time, they were at 96 percent, and in 2008, they were at 60," Caulfield said Wednesday.
"It extended our growing season. Normally, we see killing frosts in later September and early October but it stayed warmer longer," LaCorte said.
But Elizabeth Hinkel, district manager for the Schuylkill Conservation District, said the rain didn't help at the harvest.
Hinkel's family had to dry off their field corn using a propane-fuel grain dryer.
"Dry corn is about 15 percent moisture. Our corn in September was around 28 percent. If you take it to the mills and it's more than 15 percent, they take money off for that. So we had to dry it down, and with having to dry it down, that also adds extra costs," Hinkel said Oct. 2.
Not as many sightseers stopped at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Berks County, this fall because of the odd weather, according to Mary Linkevich, the sanctuary's director of communications and grants.
"Rainy weekends greatly diminished the economic impact of our annual autumn visitation and that happened this year. I believe it was our rainiest September on record, and if not, it had to be a close a second, at least in recent years. The worst is that rain fell on weekends, when most people have time to do day or overnight trips," Linkevich said.
Old Man Winter reminded Schuylkill County his day would come, when the first snowfall of the season arrived Oct. 28 with 9 inches in Mahanoy City, 8 inches in Auburn and 6 inches in Tower City and cut power to more than 3,000 in Schuylkill County.
"Our busiest weekends historically are the last two in October. This is a great time to see the fall foliage and to see migrants pass, and having a one-foot snowfall the last weekend was a tough financial blow for the sanctuary. Instead of hundreds of people, we had none that Saturday and a handful that Sunday. Ouch!" Linkevich said.
The City of Pottsville had planned to set up its ice skating rink at Joulwan Park just before Thanksgiving, according to City Superintendent of Streets Dan Kelly.
Kelly said the city is hoping to set it up next week.
Cooler winds blew into Schuylkill County last week and McKinney said winter is on its way.
"I've already seen birds you typically see in winter, like junkos. No matter what, the seasons change," McKinney said.