By Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Retired
October had above average temperatures, well above average temperatures. In fact, only six days during the month had average or below average daily high temperatures. The area was also well on its way to being a top ten driest October before welcome rains rolled through on the 30th.
The average daily high during October was 77.8, 9.9 degrees above normal. The average overnight low was 49.3, 4.3 degrees above normal. This gave us a monthly mean temperature of 63.5, 7.1 degrees above the average October mean temperature. This places October 2024 as the fourth warmest October on record. The hottest October was in 1963 when the monthly mean temperature was 69.0 degrees.
The highest temperature for the month was 95 degrees on the 5th. The coldest temperature for the month was the frosty morning low of 28 on the 16th. There were four new temperature records set in October. The high of 90 on the 24th broke the old record of 84 set in 2011. The high of 86 on the 28th broke the old record of 83 which was set in 2016. The overnight low of 64 on the 29th and 70 on the 30th set new record high low temperatures. The previous record for the 29th was 61, set in 1961. For the 30th the previous record was 62 set in 2016. The morning low of 28 on the 16th brought the 2024 growing season officially to an end. This was about a week earlier than the 30-year average first frost date of October 22nd.
Since the last frost of spring was several weeks earlier than normal, we still managed a growing season of 203 days, 9 days longer than the 30-year average of 194 days. The latest first fall frost was November 13, 2021. The earliest first fall frost was September 17, 1981. 1981 was an unusual year in that it had a very late last spring frost date of May 11th which resulted in a growing season of only 129 days, two months shorter than the average growing season.
After having the fourth driest September on record, the first three weeks of October were not looking much better with zero rain being recorded. That finally broke in the last ten days of the month and the area officially received 1.77 inches for October. While this was still below the long-term average of 2.48 inches, it was a very welcome change and helped lower some of the wildfire concerns that had plagued the county during the month.
Year to date we have received 29.06 inches, slightly below the normal year to date total of 30.98 inches. The wettest October on record was in 1941 when 12.12 inches of rain flooded the area. The driest October on record was in 1938 when 0.02 inches of rain was all that could be tallied in the rain gauges.
November brings autumn into full focus and normally shows us that winter isn’t too far away. Average daily highs in November begin at 60 and by the end of the month are down to 48 degrees. Overnight lows at the start of the month are a crisp 38 and by the end of the month have dropped to a frosty 27 degrees. November also starts our “dry season” with average rainfall of 1.42 inches (November through February all have average monthly precipitation of less than two inches.)
While November snowfall is not unheard of, it is also far from common. Average November snow accumulation is only 1 inch. But if you remember 2023, we managed half a foot of snow on the Sunday following Thanksgiving!