Chapter 1
●
9
some days in which it rains all day.
Sometimes, Pennsylvania receives very
severe storms such as tornadoes or
hurricanes. However, these storms are rare.
In the summer, most of our rain comes
from thunderstorms. Sometimes, our state
does not get enough rain during the
growing season.
Climate is the average weather an area
receives over a long period of time.
Pennsylvania’s climate has four different
seasons. We have cold winters and warm
summers.We alsohave cool springs and falls.
Our state’s average amount of
precipitation
is about 42 inches each
year. Precipitation is the amount of water
that falls to the earth. It could be in the
formof rain, snow, or ice. The southern and
eastern parts of our state get more
precipitation compared to thenorthern and
western parts. However, the northwest gets
much more snow than the southeast part
of Pennsylvania. Find
Philadelphia
and
Erie
onour statemap. (Seemaponpage ii.)
Which citywould receivemore snow?
Very cold and very hot temperatures are
not common. However, in 1904, the lowest
temperature ever recorded in our state
was measured at minus 42 degrees
Fahrenheit at Smethport. In 1936,
Phoenixville’s temperature soared to a
record 111 degrees Fahrenheit.
Landforms
G
eographers also measure landform
features by their height, or
elevation
, above
sea level
. A
landform could be 40 feet above sea level.
Another landform could be 2,000 feet
above sea level. Sea level is a term that is
used to describe howmuchhigher or lower
the land is in relation to the sea or ocean.
Pennsylvania has many different
landform features. It will be helpful to
know these geographic features. Later, we
will learnwhat landforms (andwaterforms)
are in the different regions or parts of
Pennsylvania. Remember, use maps when
the features of a place are described.
In the southeastern and northwestern
parts of the state, there are narrow plains.
Our plains are low, flat, level land that
stretch inland from Lake Erie and the
Delaware River near Philadelphia. Inplaces,
our landhas gentle, rollinghills that stretch
up to600 feet above sea level.Our state also
has a group of
mountain ridges
that
extend to over 2,400 feet above sea level. A
mountain ridge is a long stretchof land that
rises steeply above the surrounding land.
These ridges are part of the
Appalachian
Mountain
chain that cover land from
Alabama toCanada.
Between these ridges, we have valleys.
Valleys are not plains. They are long,
Pine Creek Gorge in Tioga County is also
known as the Grand Canyon of
Pennsylvania.
