Though Schuylkill County has recently experienced a string of warm days, stormy weather may weave heavily into the weather pattern this summer.
Carl Erickson, senior meteorologist at www.accuweather.com, said Tuesday that the west will be dry and the east looks unsettled and stormy.
"There shouldn't be a long stretch of dry weather in the near future for drought," Erickson said.
Amy Levan, 47, of Auburn, enjoyed the weather Wednesday at JFK Pool with her kids. She is hoping for little rain this summer.
"I really hope it doesn't rain when we go camping. The last time we went, it rained the entire week," she said.
Levan and her son, Gavin, 9, prefer the summer over winter.
"I like the sun, and the kids are more entertained," Levan said.
Gavin said he prefers summer for different reasons.
"I'd rather be playing Xbox," he said, adding he was excited that school was out and he hated having to do homework.
Though he loves playing video games, he said his favorite part of the pool is the slide.
Isabel Miske, 18, of Pottsville, a lifeguard at JFK Pool, said she also prefers summer because of the warm weather and all of the activities she can do, such as working at the pool.
"I like to lifeguard at the baby pool. It's so much fun playing with the kids," she said.
Some pool-goers remembered the past winter with bitterness.
"Winter was too long," Gina Visgaitis, 49, of Tresckow, said. "I'm happy it's over."
Levan also said she hates the winter.
"Our house is for sale, so if that sells we are moving to south Florida," Levan said.
The long winter may leave a lasting impression on the upcoming summer weather.
"There is certainly almost kind of an overlap from the winter pattern we had," Erickson said. "The jet stream and overall pattern is going to prevent real long duration heat waves. It will still warm up, but there will be more opportunity for cooling air from Canada to keep temperatures lower. This will offer a more active storm pattern. There will be many opportunities for wet weather this summer."
A jet stream makes dips and troughs. In short, areas in a dip experience weather from further north and areas in a trough experience weather from further south.
"This part of Pennsylvania is more of a dip where it comes further south more than it normally would. That was kind of the pattern we had this winter so the pattern is still kind of in place," Erickson said.
Summer not only brings warm weather, it is the time of year for severe thunderstorms, tropical storms and hurricanes.
"Severe thunderstorms are very localized and a micro scale event," Erickson said.
"They are accompanied by heavy rain, wind gusts and hail," he said.
While severe thunderstorms have been no stranger to Schuylkill County this summer, hurricanes and tropical storms are not something that the region is likely to encounter.
Erickson said it's too soon to tell what hurricanes will come our way.
"Looking at the overall pattern right now, most are going to hit the Gulf of Mexico and that area," he said.
A tropical storm forms over water that is 80 degrees or warmer in a calm environment.
"You don't want it to have a lot of wind with height because thunderstorms will form around the center of a tropical storm. Strong winds will blow thunderstorm tops from the center where the core is and storms need it," Erickson said.
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when the winds hit 74 mph.
Though there has been severe weather in past seasons, climate change requires a long-term change in weather pattern.
"We always stress here that just because you had one hot summer or one cold winter doesn't necessarily prove a climate change," Erickson said.