October's Weather Set Records for Heat, Cold, Rain and Snow in the U.S.

Jonathan ErdmanPublished: November 1, 2019

October 2019 was far from ordinary in the U.S., with record-smashing warmth, cold, rain, snow and lack of rain in a number of cities.

The month had a little of everything, including a record early-October heat wave; a Northern Plains blizzard dumping feet of snow; a Northeast bomb cyclone setting low-pressure records; a pair of tropical storms (Nestor and Olga) soaking the South; two severe weather events on Oct. 20 and Halloween; record cold in the West and Plains; and prolonged dry winds spreading California wildfires.

Let's highlight the October notables, starting with a sweltering month in the Sunshine State.

Record Hot October

Several cities in the Florida Peninsula sweated through the hottest October on record, including Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Vero Beach, West Palm Beach and Miami.

University of Miami research scientist Brian McNoldy noted October was warmer than an average September in Miami, where temperatures failed to drop below 75 degrees the entire month.

A number of other Southeast cities had a top three hottest October, including Wilmington, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, and Tallahassee, Florida.

It wasn't all about the Southeast, though. America's northernmost town, Utqiagvik (formerly known as Barrow), Alaska, had its second-warmest October.

The red dots show locations that had a record-hot October. Orange dots indicate locations that had one of their three hottest Octobers. Only locations with records dating to at least 1950 are shown.

Record Cold October

More than 10 larger cities in the West shivered through the coldest October in their history.

Among these included Rapid City, South Dakota; Spokane, Washington; Pocatello, Idaho; and Grand Junction, Colorado.

Spokane, Washington, smashed its previous record cold October from 1905.

More than 20 other cities had one of their top three coldest Octobers.

Only October 1919 was colder in Salt Lake City. At that time, Utah had only been a state for 23 years and Woodrow Wilson was in his second term as U.S. President.

Portland, Oregon, had its third-coldest October, and the chilliest since 1949.

For more on the extremes of 2019, see the post by Christopher Burt at Weather Underground's Category 6 blog.

The pink dots show locations that had a record-cold October. Light blue dots indicate locations that had one of their three coldest Octobers. Only locations with records dating to at least 1950 are shown.

Record Wet/Dry Octobers

A number of locations in the Tennessee and lower Mississippi valleys had the wettest October on record, including Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi.

Boosted by over 3 inches of rain on Halloween, Burlington, Vermont (8.5 inches), crushed its previous record-wet October (6.75 inches in 1918) by almost 2 inches. This was more than double its average October precipitation of 3.6 inches.

Des Moines, Iowa, also set a record with 7.41 inches of October precipitation, including 2.2 inches of snow over the month's final four days.

Even the "Nation's Icebox" soaked through the wettest October on record. International Falls, Minnesota, picked up 4.9 inches of precipitation, nudging over the previous record from 1971.

Numerous cities in the Southwest failed to pick up any measurable precipitation in October, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, Reno, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento.

This isn't as unusual as it sounds. A dry October has happened 26 other times each in L.A. and Phoenix in records dating to the late 19th century.

The green dots show locations that had a record-wet October. Yellow dots indicate locations that had a record-dry October. In the Southwest, completely dry Octobers have happened before. Only locations with records dating to at least 1950 are shown.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.