National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

The leaves have all finally fallen from the trees. Nights have stretched out and the daylight become fleeting as gusty winds laden with frost chill the land. Fall has now faded away, and December 1 marks the start of the period known as Meteorological Winter, which will last through the end of February 2008. The following is a summary of weather conditions experienced in Central Indiana during the months of September, October, and November 2007.

 

The fall of 2007 was the 4^th warmest fall ever during the 136 year period of record, with an average temperature of 59.1 degrees. The normal fall time average temperature is 54.6 degrees, making 2007 above normal by 4.5 degrees.

 

For the season as a whole, it was the warmest fall since 1941. The average temperature in that fall was 59.3 degrees.

 

The fall of 2007 was characterized by very unusual heat during the months of September and October. Numerous records were broken during both months. October was the 4^th warmest October on record, and saw temperatures exceed the 90 degree mark twice. In comparison, during the previous 136 years, only two October days had ever reached 90 degrees. And never before had 91 degrees been reached in October prior to this year’s October 8.

 

There were 7 days of 90 degrees or hotter during fall 2007. A normal fall would expect to see 2 days of 90 degrees or more. The last time Indianapolis had 7 days of 90 or more in the fall was 1999, which had 8 days, all in September. The all time record for fall highs in the 90s belongs to 1891 and 1897 with 12 days in the September-November time period, all of them coming during September. Only 1951 and 1954 have seen temperatures in the 90s during October before this year.

 

Also remarkable were the number of days that were 80 degrees or higher this fall, which numbered 58. This is the most on record for one fall season; the previous high was 56 days in 1908.

 

Here are temperatures for other selected Central Indiana sites during fall 2007

 

 

 

The following daily temperature records were tied or broken at Indianapolis Int’l Airport this Fall 2007:

 

 

In addition, October 8^th set the record for all time hottest temperature ever recorded during the month of October in the Indianapolis area. It was also the latest date on record for 90 degrees to be reached in the fall season.

 

 

Rain during the fall of 2007 was a bit hard to come by. However, October did reverse the trend of dry months that started back in the spring. But both September and November were drier than normal.

 

Overall this was the 30^th driest fall on record and the driest since 1999. The total rainfall for Indianapolis this fall was 6.24 inches. The normal rainfall total for fall is 9.25 inches, which made this year below normal by 3.01 inches.

 

Long term rainfall deficits in Indianapolis still continue. Since April 1^st of this year, the rainfall has only amounted to 19.06 inches. This is the 8^th driest on record during this period of time and driest since 1999.

 

Here is some additional rainfall for information for other sites during fall 2007:

 

 

 

 

This year, just a trace of snow was recorded during the fall season at Indianapolis. This all came on November 22. A normal fall season at Indianapolis would bring 1.7 inches of snowfall.

 

Data prepared by Logan Johnson, Climate Services Focal Point

Assistance from NWS Indianapolis Forecast Team

Questions should be referred to w-ind.webmaster@noaa.gov

Period of Record For Temperatures: 1871-2007

Period of record For Snowfall: 1884-2007