October 2009. 3rd Coldest on Record in the U.S.
Chillin'
Although November seems to be much warmer than last month, October was very chilly. According to the preliminary data released by NOAA, the average temperature was a full 4 degrees below normal for the month! Here are some of the highlights:
- Temperatures were below normal in eight of the nation’s nine climate regions, and of the nine, five were much below normal. Only the Southeast climate region had near normal temperatures for October.
- Oklahoma had its coolest October on record and ten other states had their top five coolest such months.
- The three-month period (August-October) was the coolest on record for three states. Five other states had top five cool periods.
- Two major snow storms hit the contiguous United States during October. The first struck the Upper Midwest October 9th through 13th, while the second blanketed the western Plains States October 27th through 30th. By month’s end, 13.6 percent of the nation was under snow cover, according to NOAA’s National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center.
Biggest October Snow in Denver in 12 Years
Denver and Colorado got a very early start to the snow and even ski season this year. Now at only the end of October, Eastern Colorado has half of it’s yearly snowfall already!
WIFR.com has the story on the big snow that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on Denver.
Many areas in the southern and western parts of the metro area have more than two-feet of snow on the ground and while major roadways are drivable, side streets are a lower priority for plow crews and getting into and out of neighborhoods is presenting a lot of challenges.
Schools are closed; so many parents are putting their kids to work clearing walkways, sidewalks and driveways of all the snow that has piled up.
Climatologists at Colorado State University in Fort Collins say these types of storms, packing this much snow, in October are rare, but they do happen. Those same climatologists say in an average year parts of eastern Colorado will see about 56-inches of snow. So far, this year about 25-inches of recordable snow has fallen.
