NWS Lubbock, TX Local Weather Events: Record setting heat in October 2016

Record warmth in October

2016 brought the warmest October in Lubbock's recorded history. The average temperature at Lubbock during October was 67.5 degrees, 1.3 degrees warmer that the previous warmest year back in 1934. We only had one record high temperature in October, on the 18th when the mercury hit 94 degrees, however the month was consistently warm to hot.

Below is a graph of the temperatures for October 2016 (click on the image to enlarge it):

It wasn't just the Lubbock area that was unusually warm. The continental United States as a whole experienced the third warmest October on record. The warmth was most pronounced across West Texas and eastern New Mexico as can be seen in this chart below from the NCEI (click on the image to enlarge it).

Here's a list of the top 5 warmest Octobers at Lubbock:

TOP 5 Warmest Octobers at Lubbock (1911-2016)

Rank	Year	Avg. Temp
1	2016	67.5
2	1934	66.2
3	1947	66.0
4	1963	65.8
5	2003	65.2