Oak Hill, WV (WOAY-TV): Following a paltry winter and seasonable spring, what does Mother Nature have in store for our region this summer? Our StormWatch 4 weather team did the research.
Check out the 2023 Summer Outlook below:
Last year, Bluefield had its wettest summer on record while Beckley ranked in the top 20. Temperatures didn’t rank in the top 10 for warmest or coolest though.
Beckley summers tend to be warmer and wetter than Bluefield on average.
Looking ahead, El Nino, a warming of the Equatorial Pacific and a positive Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (warmer than average Atlantic water temperatures) were the main driving factors. Past historical analog years (or best-matched previous summers).
We are forecasting a mild summer, with a few days in early June and the month of August being the warmest. Rainfall will likely be 1.0-1.5 inches above average for the summer. We don’t expect this summer to rank in the top 10 for wettest summers on record.
