Boo! It's November Now!

For the first time since 2010, trick or treaters were able to roam the streets of the 'Couv' without fear of rain or drizzle. It was a glorious day with just a few passing clouds throughout the day and into evening hours. It was a fitting close to a nice October for 2017.

This past month was not without its share of drama. We had a five day period within which well over three inches of rain came down. But the classic 'autumn' month was equally beset with sunshine as it was rainfall. October 2017 had seven clear days against nine rainy days and the rest of the month was partly to all cloudy. This autumn we were treated to some late season 70s which is always a delight. I doubt I'll have the 218 day streak of sub-seventy degree weather we had last season. since I recorded a 70 plus day a full thirty days later this fall than last fall.

Overall October was a pretty "normal" month. Overnight lows were much cooler than usual but that was likely due to a large number of crisp clear nights. My observed average overnight low came in at 41.46° measured against my running normal of 45.37°. Daytime highs we spot on, observed at 62.06° against the norm of 61.49°. I received my first frost on the 14th it was rather light and the first freeze came and the final day of October with a morning low at 30.7°. That is a bit late for the first freeze. But I'll remind you all that last year I did not get my first subfreezing temp until the first week of DECEMBER! And look at all the snow we got last winter!

October delivered four days in the 70s two in the first week and two more in the last, but none of them could bust out over 75°. The warmest day was the 27th with a reading of 72.3°. The chilliest morning was the aforementioned Halloween at 30.7°. The warmest overnight low came on the 7th under cloudy skies when the temp stayed above fifty bottoming at 50.5 degrees. The chilliest daytime high arrived on the 12th of October with a mark of 52°.

October was just about dead average for rainfall with 4.28 inches falling at my location. More than 80% of the rainfall came in just four days! There were a total of nine days with precipitation greater than a drizzle. The wettest day was the 21st when 1.44 inches hit the bucket, one of two days with more than an inch.

November is starting out on the chilly side. The National Weather Service has indicated that snow levels will begin a precipitous drop falling below pass levels today or tomorrow and dropping all the way down tot he lower foothills by the weekend. We are not likely to see any flakes flying below 1500 feet however.

The outlook for winter has moved from a neutral pattern to a weak La Niña pattern which is similar to last year. Climatologists are short of saying we will repeat the cold and snowy spell from last year, but the conditions are shaping up as similar. Hold on tight here we go!

Soak it up, my friends, soak it up.