By Chuck Otte
As if to sound like a broken record, October was warmer and drier than normal. This is the 17th consecutive month that temperatures have been above normal. Only three months in 2022 have had normal or above precipitation.
The average daily high during October was 71.7, 3.8 degrees above normal. The average overnight low for the month was 46.4, 1.4 degrees above normal. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 59 degrees, 2.6 degrees above normal. The highest temperature for the month was 88 degrees on the 21st. The lowest temperature for the month was 22 on the morning of October 19th. The high of 88 on the 21st tied the record high for that date. The record was originally set in 1978. That was the only temperature record for the month. The growing season came to an end on the 18th with a morning low of 28. While October was above average, it was far from record setting. The warmest October on record was in 1963 with a monthly mean temperature of 69, a full ten degrees warmer than this year. That October was notable with five days with afternoon highs OVER 90 degrees. The coldest October is a record held by 2002 and 2009 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 49.1 degrees, nearly ten degrees cooler than this year.
The 28 degree morning low on October 18th ended the growing season. Our 70 year average first frost date is October 19th so this year’s end of the growing season was close to average. However, if you look at the 30 year moving average of first frost dates we find that they are slowly moving earlier with a 30 year average first frost of October 21st. A couple of days may not seem like much, but 30 years ago, that average was October 16th. The 2022 growing season, the number of days from the last freeze of spring to the first freeze of fall, was 187 days. The long term average growing season is 188 days. The 30 year average growing season is 192 days though, once again showing a slowly warming climate. The last freeze in the spring of 2022 was on April 14th.
The rainfall, or lack thereof, is becoming increasingly concerning as drought conditions deepen and expand across the state. Normal October precipitation is 2.48 inches. Milford Lake received 0.99 inches and Junction City received 1.74 inches. This discrepancy of two reporting stations that are 4.8 miles apart simply shows how spotty rainfall in the plains, especially in periods of drought, can be. Year to date Junction City has received 26.74 inches of precipitation and Milford Lake has received 25.22 inches. Normal through the end of October is 30.98 inches. Officially, over the last 24 months we, are more than 15 inches below normal rainfall. The wettest October on record dates back to 1941 when 12.12 inches of rain fell on the region. The driest October stretches back to 1938 when 0.02 inches was all that was recorded. Snow can be recorded in the Geary County region in October, as we have seen in recent years, but the long term average snowfall for the month is only 0.1 inches. No snow was recorded in October this year.