October 2016 - 16th Month In A Row With Above Average Temperatures
The first half of October 2016 was uneventful, with average temperatures and little rainfall (0.78" thru 10/16). Then an out-of-the blue, three-day warm spell occurred Oct.17-19, with each day's high topping 80° (by contrast, the first half of the month had just three days in the 70s, none higher than 75°). This was only the third time in the past 100 years that October had three or more days in the 80s after Oct. 15 (the other two Octobers were in 1963 and 1947). The warmest of these days, Oct. 19, had a record high of 85°. (One week later the temperature dropped to 38°.)
Following this touch of summer, two rainstorms in a six-day period brought 1.40" (10/21-22) and 1.41" on (10/27) - the rainiest stretch since three rainstorms delivered 3.42" during the last week of July. Finally, on 10/30 the temperature climbed to 76° one day after a low of 39° (but Halloween's high would be twenty-two degrees chillier).
All in all, the month was 1.9 degrees milder than average, making this the sixteenth month in a row with above average temperatures, building on the record streak set in September when the fifteenth month in a row occurred (breaking the previous record of 14 months set in 2011-2012). This was also the seventh October in a row that was milder than average.
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