The wetter than normal trend of the past two months continued through October but a nice change was the slightly cooler than normal temperatures.
The average daily high during October was 63.4, 4.3 degrees below normal. This is the third straight month with below normal daily highs. This likely coincides with cloudy weather that brought us above average rainfall for August through October. The average overnight low was 45.0, 1 degree above normal. This is the sixth consecutive month with above average low temperatures. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 54.2, 1.6 degrees below normal. There was one temperature record set during the month and one record tied. The high of 45 degrees on the 15th set a new record low high temperature for that date. The old record was 53 set in 1966 and reached again in 2007. The overnight low of 28 on the 15th tied the record low for that date. The record was first set in 1952. October 14th brought an official overnight low of 32 degrees marking the first frost of the year and the official end of the growing season for tender plants. The long term average first frost date is October 19th so while a few days early, this is well within the expected “normal” range. The last frost of spring this year was April 14, one day earlier than the long term average. This gave us a growing season of 182 days, just a few days shorter than the long term average. The hottest October was in 1963 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 69 degrees. The coldest October was in 2002 and again in 2009 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 49.1.
The pattern of abundant rain that began the end of July continued into October, or at least early October. Average October rainfall is 2.62 inches. Milford Lake received 6.17 inches of rain and Junction City 6.35 inches. Year to date Milford Lake has received 28.54 inches of precipitation and Junction City 31.17 inches. Normal for January through October is 30.58 inches. From January through July 10.60 inches was received at Milford Lake, 10.12 inches below normal or 51% of normal. From August 1 through October 31 17.94 inches of rain was received, 8.08 inches above normal or 182% of normal. It is quite possible that we could end the year very close to average precipitation and yet still have spent 10 weeks of the year in extreme to exceptional drought. A classic example of where totals don’t matter, it’s the distribution of the rainfall that is important. Long term average snowfall for October, the start of the snowfall season, is one tenth of an inch. An evening and overnight snowfall on October 14th brought an unexpected 2 inch blanket of snow to the area. Warm soil temperatures didn’t allow it to last long but brought an early start to the snowfall season with an amount that equaled 25% of all the snow we received last season!
November brings rapidly dropping temperatures as we move on quickly to the official start of winter in December. Average daily highs in November range from 61 on the 1st to 48 on the 30th. Overnight lows start the month at a cool 38 degrees and by the end of the month have dropped to a frosty 25 degrees. While no one wants to think about it, November brings us our first chance, albeit slim, at below zero temperatures. November 28, 1952 saw an overnight low of -4 degrees, our earliest below zero reading for the season! November also starts our “dry” season with average monthly precipitation of 1.55 inches. Snowfall chances also pick up in November with a long term average November snowfall of 1 inch.