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Fire ravages vacant residence in Hunlock Township

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Back Mountain pipelines flying under the radar?

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Residents across the Wyoming Valley had their grills out in full force over the Labor Day weekend, the traditional end of the summer season.</p><p>And this year&#8217;s summer weather was typical of what to expect in Northeastern Pennsylvania, according to WNEP meteorologist Tom Clark.</p><p>&#8220;We had a respectable amount of sunshine and nice weekends,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t have any prolonged spells of cloudy, wet weather.&#8221;</p><p>Clark noted that the summer did get a little dry, but said it was &#8220;nothing excessive&#8221; and posed no concerns for water levels.</p><p>In particular, he said a wet June set up the Wyoming Valley to deal with the hotter months of July and August.</p><p>Clark said that 6.52 inches of rain were recorded for June at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.</p><p>&#8220;That really set us up with a lot of water in the ground,&#8221; he said.</p><p>In July, 2.33 inches of rain fell, which was 1.46 inches below normal. In August, 2.74 inches of rain fell, only 0.67 inches below normal.</p><p>Clark added that some areas may have gotten a little more or less, but said the region as a whole did not see any tropical storms or widespread, soaking rain.</p><p>As far as the temperature goes, Clark said it was &#8220;hot summer.&#8221;</p><p>He pointed to a scorching day that reached 93 degrees on July 19 and recalled another 90-degree day sometime in June.</p><p>Despite some hotter days throughout the summer months, Clark said that there was no &#8220;excessive heat&#8221; that broke any records.</p><p>He did say that last summer was not as hot and a little drier. This summer was more favorable to those with a green thumb.</p><p>&#8220;Some of the lawns browned out this summer, but it really wasn&#8217;t all that bad,&#8221; Clark said.</p><p>The warmth is expected to continue into this month, as Clark predicted that September would be a warmer than normal.</p><p>As for the upcoming winner, Clark said he doesn&#8217;t expect anything like last year&#8217;s record-breaking cold. He explained that a strong El Ni&#241;o is going on, which tends to mean that winters in the region are mild without any extreme cold.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my belief that right now the odds favor this winter won&#8217;t be as cold,&#8221; Clark said. He did not, however, rule out the possibility of excessive precipitation. &#8220;That&#8217;s still possible this winter.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_summer011.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mario Marquez of Tuscan, Ariz., licks a chocolate-dipped peanut butter ice cream cone as friend Breann Conklin of Wilmington, Del., looks on as they visit Curly Creme ice cream stand in Plains Township on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_summer011.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mario Marquez of Tuscan, Ariz., licks a chocolate-dipped peanut butter ice cream cone as friend Breann Conklin of Wilmington, Del., looks on as they visit Curly Creme ice cream stand in Plains Township on Sunday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_summer021.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Breann Conklin, of Wilmington, Del., licks a strawberry/chocolate ice cream cone on a visit to Curly Creme ice cream stand in Plains Township on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_summer021.jpg</photo1><caption1>Breann Conklin, of Wilmington, Del., licks a strawberry/chocolate ice cream cone on a visit to Curly Creme ice cream stand in Plains Township on Sunday. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_summer031.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Curly Creme employee Kelsey Gabriele hands a soft ice cream cone to a customer on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_summer031.jpg</photo2><caption2>Curly Creme employee Kelsey Gabriele hands a soft ice cream cone to a customer on Sunday. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Tom Clark says winter expected to be mild</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Old Farmer&#8217;s Almanac prediction</strong></p><p>The Old Farmer&#8217;s Almanac predicts another cold winter for the region.</p><p>According to the prediction, which encompasses parts of New York down to North Carolina, the winter will be colder than normal with precipitation slightly below normal. The coldest period is predicted to be the middle part of January, with other cold periods expected in mid- and late- December and early February.</p><p>The prediction also indicates that snowfall amounts will be normal in Pennsylvania, but above average elsewhere in the region. The snowiest periods are expected to be in late December, mid- and late January and early and mid-February.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Summer was hot, not too dry in the Wyoming Valley