October 2019: A month of extreme weather for the U.S. – “This early-October heat wave appears to the most intense and anomalous on record for such a large region of the U.S.”
By Christopher C. Burt
1 November 2019
(Weather Underground) – October is a month of transition weatherwise for the contiguous U.S. Some years it is a gentle transition from early fall to late fall, and some years an extreme transition from late summer to early winter—as has been the case this year. In fact, it is likely that this October was the most extreme such on record, at least so far as temperatures are concerned. We saw unprecedented heat in portions of the eastern U.S. during the first week of the month, transitioning to unprecedented cold in portions of the west during the final week of the month.
In line with this high-contrast pattern, several cities in the Southeast had their hottest October on record, while several northwest locations had their coldest October on record. See the weather.com wrapup by Jon Erdman for more details.
Here are some of the many individual local and state records set for October during this month of extremes.
All-time record state highs for October
A total of 10 states plus the District of Columbia saw their all-time October monthly high temperature records broken or tied during the first four days of October.
NEW OCTOBER STATE MONTHLY HEAT RECORDS BROKEN OR TIED
- Alabama: 105° at Marion on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3 (old record 103° at Troy on Oct. 5, 1954)
- Georgia: 103° at Macon on Oct. 4 (ties old record last set at Louisville on Oct. 5, 1954)
- Florida: 101° Crestview on Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 (old record 100° at Molino on Oct. 1, 1904 and also Orange City on Oct. 1 and 2, 1904
- Mississippi: 102° Meridian on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3 (beats 101° set at same site on Oct. 1, 2019)
- Maryland: 101° at Webster Naval Air Field on Oct. 2 (old record 99° at three sites on different dates)
- Tennessee: 100° at Chattanooga on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3 (old record 99° at three sites on different dates)
- Delaware: 98° at Wilmington on Oct. 2 (old record 97° at Bridgeville on Oct. 5 and 6, 1941)
- Kentucky: 98° at Bowling Green and Kenlake Resort on Oct. 2 (ties 98° set at three sites on different dates)
- District of Columbia: 98° on Oct. 2 (old record 96° on Oct. 5, 1941)
- New Jersey: 97° at Millville on Oct. 2 (ties same at Flemington and Tuckertown on Oct. 5, 1941)
- New York: 95° at JKF and La Guardia Airports on Oct. 2 (ties same at Danville on Oct. 2, 1927)
Evansville, Indiana briefly touched 97° in its METAR reports on October 1, but the official high was set as 96° (apparently the 97° did not hold for the minimum five-minute period to be considered official). The October state record for Indiana thus remains as a 97° reading measured at Thurman on Oct. 1, 1897.
In addition to the new state records, at least 75 towns and cities from New York to Indiana and south to Arkansas and Florida broke their all-time October heat records. In some cases (Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Tallahassee) there were four consecutive days (October 1-4) that broke the previous October monthly heat record each and every day.
In summary, this early-October heat wave appears to the most intense and anomalous on record for such a large region of the U.S. during the month of October. The closest rival would have been the heat wave of October 1954, when record temperatures (unmatched even in this October were attained in much of the same area, including the October state heat records for North and South Carolina (102° and 103° respectively). [more]
