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Over a dozen locations – mainly in the eastern United States – saw their warmest October on record during October 2017. Meanwhile, many areas of the eastern U.S. also saw soaking weather, while the Southwest was dry. In this edition of D.J.’s PraeDigits, we take a look back at October 2017 across the nation.
Eastern, Southwestern Heat In October 2017
The pattern across the nation in October helped keep heat trapped over the eastern United States, leading to many locations seeing a top ten warmest October on record.
We also saw record heat in parts of the Southwest, where temperatures in Los Angeles soared into the 100s on both the 23rd (102) and 24th (104). This was the second latest on record they have ever had a high in the 100s. On the 24th, both San Louis Obispo and San Diego’s Miramar Naval Air Station hit a high of 108 – tying the warmest a station in the U.S. has ever been so late into the year.
Overall, 56 long-term climate locations across the lower 48 saw a top ten warmest October on record, with 14 of those locations seeing their warmest October on record. Here is a partial list of those that did:
- Albany, NY: 57.8° (Warmest October On Record)
- Hartford, CT: 59.9° (Warmest October On Record)
- Bridgeport, CT: 62.3° (Warmest October On Record)
- Bangor, ME: 55.6° (Warmest October On Record)
- Burlington, VT: 58.6° (Warmest October On Record)
- Caribou, ME: 51.4° (Warmest October On Record)
- Concord, NH: 56.9° (Warmest October On Record)
- Newark, NJ: 63.9° (Warmest October On Record)
- Islip, NY: 61.9° (Warmest October On Record)
- New York-LGA, NY: 65.5° (Warmest October On Record)
- Milton, MA: 59.5° (Warmest October On Record)
- New York-Central Park, NY: 64.1° (Warmest October On Record)
- Worcester, MA: 58° (Warmest October On Record)
- Portland, ME: 56.1° (Warmest October On Record)
- Boston, MA: 61.4° (2nd warmest)
- New York-JFK, NY: 63.2° (2nd warmest)
- Los Angeles Airport, CA: 71.5° (2nd warmest)
- Philadelphia, PA: 64.1° (2nd warmest)
- Downtown Los Angeles, CA: 74.1° (3rd warmest)
- Washington, DC: 64.9° (3rd warmest)
- Atlantic City, NJ: 62.4° (4th warmest)
- San Diego, CA: 71.1° (4th warmest)
- Sault Ste Marie, MI: 51.4° (5th warmest)
- Miami, FL: 80.8° (5th warmest)
- Phoenix, AZ: 80.5° (5th warmest)
- Cleveland, OH: 59.4° (7th warmest)
- San Francisco, CA: 64.2° (7th warmest)
- Roanoke, VA: 61.4° (8th warmest)
- Tampa, FL: 78.2° (8th warmest)
- Redding, CA: 65.5° (10th warmest)
- Raleigh, NC: 64.2° (10th warmest)
Heavy Rain In October 2017
Some of the heaviest precipitation in October 2017 fell across the eastern half of the United States. Hurricane Nate made landfall along the central Gulf Coast October 8th, bringing heavy rain along its path from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley and the Northeast. Parts of the region ended up receiving over a half a foot of rain during the month, while Mobile, AL, received over a foot of rain.
The Northwest also saw a period of heavy rain between the 17th and 22nd, in which Seattle saw over an inch of rain on three separate days. Portland, OR saw their fourth wettest October day on record on the 21st when 2.13″ fell.
Overall, 42 long-term climate locations across the nation saw a top ten wettest October 2017. Here’s a partial list of some of those locations:
- Mobile, AL: 13.44″ (Wettest October On Record)
- Muskegon, MI: 9.25″ (Wettest October On Record)
- Grand Rapids, MI: 9.69″ (Wettest October On Record)
- Lansing, MI: 8.73″ (Wettest October On Record)
- Sioux City, IA: 6.83″ (Wettest October On Record)
- Marquette, MI: 8.19″ (Wettest October On Record)
- Waterloo, IA: 5.55″ (2nd wettest)
- Chicago, IL: 8.70″ (2nd wettest)
- Salina, KS: 5.78″ (2nd wettest)
- Sault Ste Marie, MI: 6.60″ (3rd wettest)
- Bridgeport, CT: 7.37″ (4th wettest)
- Flint, MI: 4.69″ (4th wettest)
- La Crosse, WI: 6.01″ (4th wettest)
- Rochester, NY: 6.71″ (4th wettest)
- Rochester, MN: 5.09″ (4th wettest)
- Islip, NY: 6.67″ (5th wettest)
- Caribou, ME: 6.23″ (6th wettest)
- Sioux Falls, SD: 5.28″ (7th wettest)
- Saint Cloud, MN: 5.08″ (7th wettest)
- Bristol, TN: 4.45″ (8th wettest)
- Williamsport, PA: 6.70″ (10th wettest)
- Lexington, KY: 5.77″ (10th wettest)
- Knoxville, TN: 5.36″ (10th wettest)
Record Dry Weather In Parts Of The Southwest U.S.
While the dry season continues across parts of the western U.S., there were areas of the Southwestern United States that saw no rain last month that typically receive at least some. No rain fell last month in Tucson, during a month that typically sees 0.89″ of rain. Tucson has only had four other Octobers with no rain.
According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, a total of 14 long-term climate locations across the lower 48 saw a top ten driest October on record. This partial list of locations below does not including the California locations shown on the map:
- Flagstaff, AZ: 0″ (Driest October On Record)
- Phoenix, AZ: 0″ (Driest October On Record)
- Yuma, AZ: 0″ (Driest October On Record)
- Grand Forks, ND: 0.12″ (3rd driest)
- Ely, NV: 0.04″ (7th driest)
- Redding, CA: 0.33″ (9th driest)
- Alamosa, CO: 0.06″ (10th driest)
What Could The Month Of November Hold?
In November, the Climate Prediction Center is expecting warmer than average weather across the southern and eastern United States, with the highest probabilities occurring from New Mexico to northern Florida. The probabilities are in favor of cooler than average weather from the west coast to the western Great Lakes.
Areas from the western United States to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley have a higher probability of seeing wetter than average conditions during November. Meanwhile, drier than average weather is expected across portions of the south, from eastern Arizona to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
Remember you can catch more PraeDigits on our twitter page (@PraedictixWX) or by searching #PraeDigits on twitter!
– Meteorologist D.J. Kayser
