October 2018 Climate Summary

Overview and Graphics

October 2018 Climate Review: What a crazy ride we experienced this past month! Temperatures ended up finishing a little above normal after we had quite the roller coaster ride throughout the month. Our region had the warmest start to October on record, with temperatures feeling like August during the first 10 days. Paducah, KY set a record for the most number of days reaching 90 degrees in October with 5 days, breaking the previous record of 4 days set back in October 1939. We then quickly flipped the switch and turned much cooler than normal, making it feel more like November during the middle of the month, before finally warming up some during the last week. High temperatures in the 70s were rare this October, only registering 2 of them in Evansville, IN. Dating back to 1896, there had only been 1 other October to experience fewer days with highs in the 70s in Evansville and that was back in 1963 when there was only 1 day.

Precipitation was generally below normal through October 30th, but then a storm system dumped a substantial amount of rain on the region from Halloween into November 1st. This lead to amounts close to normal or even above normal in many areas, except up in northern portions of southern Illinois and into southwest Indiana, which still ended up slightly drier than normal.

The graphic below is an interpolated rainfall map using actual observations. Please note that there are likely discrepancies in between observations, since the values are estimated based on nearest reports. Due to a heavy rainfall event from October 31st through November 1st, this map includes all rainfall from that event.

October 2018 Review: Precipitation and Temperature Maps (Click on image to enlarge)

Climate Maps are from the Northeast Regional Climate Center

Monthly Summary Listings of normals and records for Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardeau

Monthly Climate Report: Paducah | Evansville | Cape Girardeau

Records Listing of records for Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardaeu

Record Event Reports: Paducah | Evansville | Cape Girardeau