October Kicks Off with Warm Weather

October 1-15 average temperatures ranged from 2°F below normal to 8°F above normal.

A majority of the Northeast experienced a warmer-than-normal first half of October, with the largest departures above normal of up to 8°F in portions of West Virginia. However, a few parts of northern New England were cooler than normal by as much as 2°F. October 1-15 average temperatures at 34 of the Northeast's major sites ranged from 2.2°F below normal in Caribou, ME, the only cooler-than-normal site, to 6.8°F above normal in Huntington, WV. This first half of October ranked among the 20 warmest such periods on record for 20 of the sites.

This October 1-15 period was among the 20 warmest such periods on record for 20 major sites.

October 1-15 precipitation ranged from less than 25% of normal to over 200% of normal.

Precipitation amounts varied during the first half of October, from less than 25% of normal in parts of western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania to over 200% of normal in places like southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and West Virginia. October 1-15 precipitation at 34 of the Northeast's major sites ranged from 33% of normal in Syracuse, NY, to 226% of normal in Elkins, WV, with the sites split between drier than normal and wetter than normal. This October 1-15 period ranked among the 20 wettest such periods on record for seven major sites. Drought intensified in parts of upstate New York and northern New England that saw drier-than-normal conditions but improved in southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic, which were wetter.

This first half of October was among the 20 wettest such periods for seven major sites.