Record Cold and Wet October

 

 October 2009 will be remembered as one the coldest Octobers on record along with one of the wettest.  The average temperature across the area for October ranged from 38 to 42 degrees which was from 6 to 9 degrees below normal.  Every location had one of their top five coldest Octobers on record.  Kennebec set their all-time coldest October on record with 41.6 degrees breaking the previous record by almost one degree.  The previous record for Kennebec was 42.5 degrees set in the 1917 and 2002.  The average daily high temperatures across the area were well below normal, anywhere from 11 to nearly 15 degrees below normal for the month.   Pierre, Sisseton, Timber Lake, and Mobridge all had their second coldest Octobers on record. Wheaton had their third coldest October while Aberdeen and Watertown had their fourth coldest October on record.

 October was also a very wet month with precipitation amounts ranging from 3 to over 7 inches across the region. These precipitation amounts were anywhere from 1 to over 5 inches above normal with several monthly precipitation records broken across northeast South Dakota and west central Minnesota.  Browns Valley, Minnesota received 7.36 inches of precipitation for October breaking the old record of 5.73 inches in 1998 by 1.63 inches.

OCTOBER

        

Temperature Data

Aberdeen

Sisseton

Wheaton

Watertown

Warmest Temperature/Date

67 / 18th

67 / 18th

64 / 18th

63 /18th

Coldest Temperature/Date

22 / 9th,10th,13th

19 / 13th

22 / 13th, 14th

18 / 10th

Average High/Departure from Normal

47.5 / -11.7

46.8/ -12.1

46.6 / -14.3

45.5 / -11.2

Average Low/Departure from Normal

32.9 / -1.5

34.3 / -2.1

33.7 / -3.3

32.7 / -1.2

Monthly Average/Departure from Normal

40.2 / -6.6

40.6 / -7.1

40.1 / -8.8

39.1 / -6.2

Precipitation Data

        

Monthly Precipitation / Departure from Normal

4.33 / +2.70

7.01/+5.19

7.03 / +5.16

5.65 / +3.73

Monthly Snowfall / Departure from Normal

1.6 / +0.8

1.8 / +1.1

3.0 / +2.7

3.0 / +1.9

Most Precipitation in 24 Hours/Date

1.25 / 5-6th

2.37/1st-2nd

2.07 / 1st-2nd

1.53/ 1st-2nd

Most Snow in 24 Hours/Date

1.0 / 12th

1.2 /15th

1.0 / 14-15th

1.0 / 30th
         

Temperature Data

Pierre

Kennebec

Mobridge

Timber Lake

Warmest Temperature/Date

71 / 18th

79 / 18th

74 / 18th

76 / 18th

Coldest Temperature/Date

16 / 11th

15 / 11th

22 / 9th,10th, 11th

14 / 11th

Average High/Departure from Normal

47.9 / -14.5

50.5/ -14.7

46.1 / -14.0

46.3 / -13.3

Average Low/Departure from Normal

32.8 / -4.2

32.7 / -3.7

32.5 / -3.9

30.3 / -4.9

Monthly Average/Departure from Normal

40.4 / -9.3

41.6 / -9.2

39.3 / -9.0

38.3 / -9.1

Precipitation Data

        

Monthly Precipitation / Departure from Normal

4.18 / +2.54

3.65/+2.17

3.55 / +2.01

2.69 / +1.06

Monthly Snowfall / Departure from Normal

1.2 / +0.0

1.0 / +.2

2.0 / +1.4

1.1 / +0.0

Most Precipitation in 24 Hours/Date

1.36 / 4-5th

1.79/5-6th

1.40 / 5-6th

1.36 / 5-6th

Most Snow in 24 Hours/Date

.7 / 12th

1.0/ 12th

1.2 / 11th

.8 / 12th

 

 

 



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