Weather patterns took twists and turns in 2007, beginning with flowers blooming in January and including a freak June storm that killed four people in Colchester.
Golfers were hitting area courses in January's 60-degree weather.
National Weather Service observer David K. Mattice of Emmons recorded a high of 64.4 degrees Jan. 2, which broke the 1890 mark of 58 degrees for the date.
Frank Ward, Walton weather observer, said he recorded 63 degrees, beating the record for that date by 2 degrees.
January averaged 4.8 degrees above normal, Mattice said at the time. The normal mean temperature for January is 21.3 degrees.
But by the end of January, temperatures plunged, and ice fishing replaced golfing as an outdoor activity.
Holiday comes with a blizzard
A record-setting blizzard pushed through the area Feb. 14. More than 25 inches of snow fell in Emmons, Mattice said. That broke the Oneonta-area record for Valentine's Day of 20 inches, set in 1914.
States of emergency were issued for Otsego, Chenango and Schoharie counties.
According to the National Weather Service, a "spotter" in Cobleskill reported 31.1 inches of snow, while close to 2 feet of snow fell in Delhi, said local weather observer James Brundege at the time. Temperatures varied in the area but remained below average in February, he said.
Brian Lovejoy, a NWS meteorologist in Binghamton, reported high temperatures for February ranged from a high of 45 degrees to a low of 9 degrees.
The average Binghamton snowfall in February is 15.9 inches, but the 2007 February total was 29.1 inches, Lovejoy said.
The last time the area had snowfall like the Valentine's Day snowstorm was Christmas Day 2002, when 25 to 40 inches of snow were reported across Otsego and Delaware counties, Lovejoy said.
The cold weather continued into March, with the temperature dropping to 9 degrees below zero March 6, but it didn't break a record. The lowest reading in Oneonta for the date was minus-17 degrees in 1873 and again in 1948, Mattice said.
But Oneonta did set a record for the lowest high temperature for the date, with the thermometer only reaching 5.1 degrees, Mattice said. The previous record was 8 degrees.
Snow continued into April and thousands of people were left without power when a powerful nor'easter caused flooding and dumped several inches of heavy, wet snow in the region April 16.
Oneonta had 4 inches of snow on the ground that morning and then received 1.39 inches of rain during the day, said meteorologist Ted Champney with the National Weather Service in Binghamton.
Champney said Bainbridge had 14 inches of snow as of 1:30 p.m. and Sidney had 10 inches. Franklin had 7 inches that morning, he said.
Deadly flooding, then a stable summer
Summer began tragically in the town of Colchester where four people died June 19 after an 8-foot-high wall of water rushed through two valleys.
The storm that stalled along a ridge between Holiday Brook and Cat Hollow roads in the Delaware County town washed away four homes and destroyed roads and bridges.
Up to 8 inches of rain fell in two hours, washing out roads and homes and slamming trees into bridges, officials said.
Gertrude Melvin, who was visiting her daughter and son-in-law, Elaine and George Finkle, was presumed dead after she was swept away by the water as her son-in-law attempted to rescue her, according to a family friend. The Finkle's home on Cat Hollow was washed away, and Melvin's body has not been found.
Fred and Marjorie Shutts died when their home on Cat Hollow was washed away. The Shuttses' home was next to the Finkles' home. In August, the body of the fourth victim _ Barbara L.C. Cooper, 74, of Livingston Manor _ was found on the north bank of the Beaverkill River in Hancock.
The damage to Cat Hollow, also known as county Route 7 and state Route 206, was so extensive that the road was closed until mid-November.
The month of July turned out to be cooler and wetter than normal, continuing a trend that stretched through the first seven months of the year, Mattice said.
In compiling monthly statistics at his station, Mattice said, the mean temperature for July was 64.7 degrees. This compares to the normal mean of 68.4 degrees.
July's precipitation totaled 5.11 inches, as compared to the normal average of 3.93 inches.
As autumn arrived, the weather settled. The area's weather during September ranged from wet and warm to near normal.
The mean temperature for September in the Oneonta area was slightly above normal, Mattice said, with a monthly mean temperature of 61 degrees. The normal for Oneonta is 59.7 degrees.
Precipitation was also near normal, Mattice said. He measured 3.02 inches of rain this September. The normal for the month, he said, is 3.25 inches.
From June through September, the weather was fairly stable, Mattice said.
There were several "hit-and-miss" thunderstorms that moved through the area in September that resulted in more rain for some areas, Mattice said.
It was rainier than normal in the Delhi area in September, Brundege said.
He measured 7.05 inches of rain for the month; the normal amount is 3.55 inches. The average daily high for the month was 74 degrees, and the average daily low was 46 degrees, he said.
One of the most remarkable things about September, as noted by Mattice and Brundege, was the lack of a frost.
As the year drew to an end, back-to-back snowstorms turned the area into a winter wonderland, but rain Dec. 23 washed snow away, making for a mostly green Christmas.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
