Pennsylvania Weather Review: November 2025
Pennsylvania Weather Review: November 2025
November Highlights
The month started off relatively quiet following a wet & windy end to October. On the 5th day of the month, a strong warm wind ahead of a cold front brought the warmest temperatures of the month. High temperatures reached the low 70s in south central PA. The dryness combined with the strong wind brought a number of brush fires. The strong winds (50-60+ mph) pushed the customers without power to near 120,000 in the state.
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| High temperatures ending at 7am on November 6th. Source |
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| Highest Wind Gusts November 5-6, 2025. |
Cooler air behind the front finally brought the first temperature of 40° or colder to Philadelphia on the morning of the 7th. This was the 3rd latest that Philly has recorded the first temperature <=40° on record. Another cold front on the 9th brought rain changing over to snow. Combined with lake effect snow, this was the first Winter Weather Advisories, Winter Storm Watches, and Lake Effect Snow Warnings of the season. This same cold shot dug deep into the southern US with flurries in Atlanta and freezing temperatures down to the Gulf coast.
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| Feels like temperatures on the morning of Veteran's Day, November 11, 2025. Source |
Snow squalls caused travel troubles on Interstate 80 in Clearfield County on the 10th and in Centre County on the morning of the 11th. It was a cold & snowy Veteran's Day with wind chills in the single digits. Isolated spots measured over a foot of snow. Some lucky spots especially in southeast PA were treated to displays of the Northern Lights on the 11th and 12th but clouds dominated for most.
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| Traffic backed up on I-80 in Clearfield County on the evening of November 10th. Source |
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| Webcam image showing the northern lights in Forest City. Source |
Another cold front brought some thunderstorms on the 15th with rumbles of thunder and gusty showers in western PA. Behind the front, another round of isolated lake effect snow showers on the 18th & 19th. The wind finally went away, but fog developed in it's place. A rare Freezing Fog Advisory was issued in western PA on the 20th with dense fog continuing on the 21st.
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| Facebook post summarizing the Freezing Fog Advisories in western PA on November 21st. Source |
Portions of western PA picked up just over an inch of precipitation on the 25th. Behind this, colder air filtered into the state for Thanksgiving with highs in the 20s across the Laurel Highlands and Allegheny Plateau. Northwest PA once again saw accumulating snow with scattered snow showers & flurries across southwest and central PA. A few showers dropped a quick coating including one in Pittsburgh on the evening of Thanksgiving which caused many wrecks on untreated surfaces. More snow squalls caused wrecks on the highways in central PA on Black Friday. Over a foot fell in northern McKean County when all was said and done.
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| 72 hour snowfall totals ending 12z on November 30th. Over a foot fell along the New York border. Source |
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| A rainbow over Chambersburg on November 26th. Source |
November Statistics
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| Pennsylvania temperature and precipitation statistics for November. |
November 2025 was notably cooler than average across Pennsylvania with the exception of Philadelphia. Bradford was nearly 3 degrees below average. It was also a dry month statewide with Allentown, Harrisburg, Scranton, and Williamsport failing to record half of the monthly average. Erie was closest to average as the lake effect machine has continued to bring rounds of rain & snow.
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| 4 week Drought Monitor class change comparing the conditions on October 28th to November 25th for Pennsylvania. Source |
One of the most anomalous weather aspect of November was how windy it was. For much of the state this may not have been noticed, but it certainly stood out to me (partly because I seem to live in the windiest part of the state). The strong wind felt like what you would expect in March, not November.
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| Average wind gust for the month of November and number of days with max wind gust 40mph+ for the Altoona/ Blair County Airport. The charts highlight 2025 in green. Via IEM Auto Plotter. |
Altoona finished November with the highest average wind gust for the month of November at 32mph. 11 days with wind gusts of 40mph+ is a record for November beating out 1997 with just 6. The average wind speed ranks as 7th highest for November. In total there were 5 Wind Advisories spanning a total of 67.4 hours in Blair County. This is the most total number of hours in any month for Wind Advisories and High Wind Warnings combined.
A Quick Fall Review
| Temperature and precipitation statistics for September, October, and November for cities across Pennsylvania. |
Average temperatures for fall 2025 were generally within a degree of average. Philadelphia was a degree above average while Bradford was a degree below average. It was very dry compared to average with departures of more than 4 inches across much of central and eastern PA. Erie was the lone wet spot with plenty of lake moisture.
Webcam Image of the Month
On November 26th, a thin, but intense squall line formed in western Pennsylvania. The shelf cloud brought this ominous view to DuBois.
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| Webcam image from 1:04pm on 11/26/25 in DuBois looking west toward a squall line. Source |
Wrapping Up & Looking Ahead
If you missed my last blog, make sure to check out the review of the Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950. As we enter the last month of the year, it is time to start to think about the year in review.
Thanks for stopping by and remember to always look up!
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