CXUS53 KIWX 010920 CLMFWA CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 520 AM EDT FRI NOV 01 2024 ................................... ...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2024... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2024 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR'S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 91 10/03/1898 LOW 19 10/31/1988 HIGHEST 82 10/11 MM MM 86 10/02 10/03 LOWEST 29 10/17 MM MM 24 10/31 AVG. MAXIMUM 71.2 63.7 7.5 64.4 AVG. MINIMUM 42.4 42.8 -0.4 44.9 MEAN 56.8 53.2 3.6 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MIN <= 32 4 3.8 0.2 3 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 9.26 1954 MINIMUM 0.14 1964 TOTALS 0.43 2.95 -2.52 3.44 DAILY AVG. 0.01 0.10 -0.09 0.11 DAYS >= .01 3 10.1 -7.1 15 DAYS >= .10 1 6.2 -5.2 7 DAYS >= .50 0 1.9 -1.9 3 DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.7 -0.7 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 0.34 10/25 TO 10/25 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 8.0 1989 TOTALS 0.0 0.1 -0.1 T SINCE 7/1 0.0 0.1 -0.1 T SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.0 0.0 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 0 0 24 HR TOTAL 0.0 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 259 376 -117 341 SINCE 7/1 289 481 -192 390 COOLING TOTAL 14 12 2 28 SINCE 1/1 1016 849 167 766 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 7.3 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 31/210 DATE 10/29 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 43/300 DATE 10/13 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.37 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 18 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 10 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 3 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 60 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 2 RAIN 1 LIGHT RAIN 6 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0 LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0 FOG 8 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 0 HAZE 2 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...3RD DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD; TOP 20 WARMEST... FORT WAYNE WAS INCREDIBLY DRY THIS MONTH. DATING BACK TO THE 30TH OF SEPTEMBER, FORT WAYNE WENT 15 DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. A GENERALLY UNHELPFUL 0.01" WAS RECORDED ON THE 15TH, TECHNICALLY SNAPPING THE DRY STREAK. IT WOULD BE ANOTHER NINE DAYS UNTIL RAIN RETURNED, THIS TIME 0.34 INCHES ON THE 25TH. BY THE 30TH, FORT WAYNE WAS ON PACE TO RECORD ITS 3RD DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD WITH ONLY 0.35 INCHES (0.34" IN 1924 AND 0.14 INCHES IN 1964). THE 3RD DAY WITH MEASURABLE RAINFALL THIS MONTH CAME ON HALLOWEEN, WHEN 0.08" FELL. WITH ONLY 3 DAYS THIS MONTH WITH MEASURABLE RAINFALL, OCTOBER 2024 IS TIED WITH 1908, 1963, AND 1964 AS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF DAYS WITH MEASURABLE IN OCTOBER EVER. ALL IN ALL, A MEASLY 0.43 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS OBSERVED THIS MONTH, WHICH IS 2.52 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 3RD DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897 AND DRIEST OCTOBER SINCE 1964. TO FURTHER PUT THIS INTO PERSPECTIVE, HAVING A HALF INCH OR LESS OF PRECIPITATION IN A MONTH IS INCREDIBLY RARE. THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED WAS IN MARCH OF 2001 WHEN 0.48" FELL. UNSURPRISINGLY, DROUGHT CONDITIONS WORSENED THROUGH THE MONTH. ON THE OCTOBER 1ST US DROUGHT MONITOR, ABOUT 8.5% OF THE NORTHERN INDIANA FORECAST AREA WAS UNDER A SEVERE DROUGHT (D2) OR WORSE. BY OCTOBER 29TH, THIS VALUE BALLOONED TO 77.9%. FALL HARVEST YIELDS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN GOOD ACCORDING TO USDA CROP REPORTS, THOUGH FIELD FIRES HAVE BEEN PROBLEMATIC AND A LACK OF RAIN HAS NEGATIVELY IMPACTED THE GERMINATION OF WINTER WHEAT. NO SNOW WAS RECORDED THIS MONTH, IN CONTRAST TO A TRACE THAT WAS OBSERVED IN OCTOBER 2023 AND 0.7" IN OCTOBER 2022. OCTOBER USUALLY AVERAGES 0.1 INCHES OF SNOW IN FORT WAYNE. A TASTE OF FALL ARRIVED MID-MONTH, WHICH WAS ALSO WHEN THE FIRST FROST WAS OBSERVED ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE TYPICAL FIRST FROST DATE FOR THE AREA. HEAT SOON FOLLOWED WITH HIGHS WELL INTO THE 70S AND EVEN 80 DEGREES (80 ON THE 21ST). THEN, 80S RETURNED AT THE END OF THE MONTH, INCLUDING A RECORD HIGH OF 80 ON THE 29TH (PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 78 IN 2016) AND A RECORD HIGH OF 81 ON THE 30TH (PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 79 IN 1950). A NEW RECORD WARM LOW WAS ALSO SET ON THE 30TH; THE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 64 DEGREES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD WARM LOW OF 58, WHICH WAS SET IN 1974. FORT WAYNE WAS JUST 1 DAY SHY OF THE LATEST 80-DEGREE DAY IN THE CALENDAR YEAR ON RECORD, WHICH OCCURRED ON HALLOWEEN 1950. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 56.8 DEGREES WHICH IS 3.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES WITH 2017 AS THE 19TH WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE WARMEST OCTOBER SINCE 2021. BROWN/JOHNSON $$