By Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Retired
October was the 14th consecutive month with temperatures above average, in fact significantly above average, yet again. Fortunately, this was also, once again, coupled with above average rainfall.
The average daily high for October was 75.8, 7.9 degrees above average. The average overnight low was 55.4, 10.4 degrees above average. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 65.6, which is 9.2 degrees above average. This puts October 2026 in the record books as the third warmest October on record. The warmest October was in 1963 with a mean temperature of 69.0.
October 1956 was just slightly warmer than this October at 65,9 degrees. Additionally, three of the six warmest Octobers have occurred in the last three years. October 2024 was the 5th warmest and October 2025 was the 6th warmest. Year to date we are almost five degrees above long term average temperature.
The coldest October on record is a tie between 2002 and 2009 at a chilly 49.1 degree monthly mean temperature. The highest temperature for the month was 88 that was reached on four days during the month, the 8th, 10th, 11th and the 12th. The lowest temperature for the month was 33 degrees on the morning of the 17th. It was officially the only temperature below 40 for the entire month. Which means that while frost was seen in many locations, we did not have an official freeze during the month of October. Our long-term average first freeze of the fall is October 20th. The latest it has ever occurred is November 13th in 2021. Last year our first freeze didn’t occur until November 9th.
One temperature record was tied during October. The low of 70 on the 1st tied the record high low for that date, first set in 2023.
Average rainfall for October is 2.48 inches. That total was achieved in the first two days of the month. The rest of the month saw mainly sunny and dry days with occasional rain scattered across the period. Total rainfall for October was 3.46 inches. Year to date, we have received 37.31 inches of precipitation, well above the long-term average through the first ten months of the year of 30.98 inches. We have achieved over 110% of our normal annual rainfall with two months left to go. The wettest October on record was in 1941 when 12.12 inches of rain was recorded. The driest October was 1938 when only 0.02 inches fell. As expected, there was no snow recorded in October.
As the days grow rapidly shorter, the average daily highs in November drop noticeably as well. On All Saints Day the average daily high is 60 but by the end of the month it has chilled down to 48. Likewise, average overnight lows range from 38 on the 1st to 27 on the 30th.
November through February are our driest months of the year accounting for a mere 13% of our annual liquid precipitation. Average November precipitation is 1.42 inches. And while snow chances do increase in November, don’t get your hopes up. Average long term November snowfall is only one inch.