November 2020 Reigns As Mildest November On Record

 

 

November 2020 was 5.2 degrees warmer than average and became the warmest November on record, supplanting November 2015 by 0.2 degrees.  Sixteen days had highs in the 60s or 70s (one fewer than the 1931 record).  What stood out was a streak of six days with highs in the 70s from Nov. 6-11, the longest streak of its kind to occur in November.  (And the seven days between Nov. 4-10 had clear or mostly sunny skies.)  Conditions on Thanksgiving Day were noteworthy as well.  Although the high of 65° wasn't the warmest on record (it tied for third warmest), its low of 55° was.  (Just two years ago Thanksgiving Day had a high/low of 28°/17°.)  It was also the seventh rainiest Thanksgiving, with 0.79" falling in the morning.  What follows are a few other observations:

 

• Typically, November is 5.4 degrees cooler than April.  This year, however, it was 2.4 degrees milder and became just the tenth November to be milder than April.  (Nov. 1975 was warmer than April by the greatest margin, +4.4 degrees.)

• The eight-day period between Nov. 5-12 was 14 degrees above average.  The rest of the month was two degrees above average.  These 22 days included four days that were ten or more degrees above average, and two other days that were ten or more below average.  Overall, the month had nineteen days that were five or more degrees above average.

• At 3.99", the month's rainfall was an average amount, and that was thanks to a rainstorm that brought 0.98" on the last day of the month.  It was also the month's biggest rainstorm.  This storm was accompanied by gusty winds.  The peak gust was 35 mph, which was the seventh day of the month to report a peak gust of 30 mph or greater (the area's three major airports, LGA, JFK and EWR had gusts of 30 mph+ on ten, twelve and nine days, respectively, and their peak gusts were much higher).

 

 

• The three warmest Novembers have all occurred in the 21st century, as well as half of the ten warmest, and half of the top 12.

• Despite being the warmest November on record, this November is tied with Nov. 2011 for warmest average high and tied for fourth mildest average low.  Additionally, Nov. 2020 had two days with sub-freezing low temperatures (both were 30°) while half of the ten mildest Novembers had coldest readings that were above freezing.

• Besides this November, Nov. 1994 and Nov. 1975 also had six days in the 70s (but they weren't consecutive).  But they rank second behind Nov. 1953, which had seven such days.

 
 

Here are five previous November recaps:

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Henry]

Four of the six previous Novembers contained days with record highs or lows.
In 2015, there was a record high of 74 degrees on 11/6.
In 2017, there were back-to-back record lows of 25 degrees on 11/10 and 24 degrees on 11/11.
In 2019, there were back-to-back record lows of 25 degrees on 11/12 and 23 degrees on 11/13; and the record low of 29 degrees on 11/8 was tied.
In 2020, there was a record high of 74 degrees on 11/10; and the record high of 75 degrees on 11/9 was tied.
An honorable mention would be the cold conditions of 17 degrees on 11/22 and 15 degrees on 11/23 in 2018. These temperatures were colder than the records in 2017 and 2019, but they were not records themselves.
This November came close to having thunder and lightning twice in storms on the 15th and the 30th. In the storm on the 30th, vivid lightning shone brightly in New Jersey and Philadelphia, but there was none reported in New York City.

[William]

this month had seventeen 59°+ days. this was equivalent to the number of such days in the previous three Novembers combined. only the Novembers of 1941, 1979, 1999 and 2006 have also had at least seventeen such days as this November has had. this joins 1876 and 1940 as the only three years where November had a 70° day while April did not.

[Landen]

did this fall rank among the ten warmest if so how warm

[Rob]

It missed placing among the 10 warmest by a tiny bit. To be in the top 10, the temperature would have to be 60.09 degrees or warmer, but it was 59.84 degrees, putting it in 13th place.

[Joaquin]

This was (1), the first November to be above normal since 2016, (2017-2019 were below normal) (2), the mildest on record, and (3), the most 70+ days in November on record. Any thoughts on my comment?

[Rob]

Your third observation is incorrect. As I pointed out in the post, 1953 had the most days in the 70s - seven. Besides 2020, Nov. 1975 and 1994 also had six days in the 70s. However, Nov. 2020 is the only November to have six days in a row with readings in the 70s.

[William]

both April (0) and October (0) had fewer readings of 75° or warmer than November (2) this year, which is a first time occurrence for any year.

[William]

even though this month wasn’t colder than April 2020, this month actually did have a colder reading than April 2020 (30° vs 36°).

[William]

in 2015, September (which was the warmest ever) was warmer than June for the first time since 1998.

in 2017, October (which was the warmest ever) was warmer than May for the first time since 1990.

in 2020, November (which was the warmest ever) was warmer than April for the first time since 2003.