October Monthly Summary

October ended up being warmer and drier than normal across most of Wisconsin. First, lets take a look at the October temperatures across the state.


October Average Temperature	October Average Temperature - Departure from Normal

As you can see, the average October temperatures ranged from the low to mid 50s in southern WI to low to mid 40s in northern WI. Those temperatures were 1-3 degrees above normal across all but the very northern portions of the state. Taking a closer look at southern WI, we see that the average October temperature in Milwaukee was 53.9 degrees, about 2.6 degrees above the normal value of 51.3. In Madison, the average October temperature was 51.6 degrees, which is 2.7 degrees greater than the normal value of 48.9. This month was also the first time this season we saw below freezing temperatures in southern Wisconsin, with all but the lakeside communities dipping into the upper 20s on the 17th and 18th.

October 2015 Temps - Milwaukee

October 2015 Temps - Madison

Average Temp

53.9°

Departure

+2.6°

Average Temp

51.6°

Departure

+2.7°

Average High

61.5°

Average Low

46.4°

Average High

61.4°

Average Low

41.7°

Highest Temp

79° (10/11)

Lowest Temp

33° (10/17, 10/18)

Highest Temp

78° (10/11)

Lowest Temp

27° (10/17, 10/18)

Now, taking a look at precipitation, we can see that all but the northwest portion of the state, where they saw 3-4" of rain, received less precipitation than normal.


October Total Precipitation	October Total Precipitation - Departure from Normal

Again, lets focus on southeastern WI. Milwaukee received 1.90" of rain in October, which is .75" below the normal value of 2.65". Unlike Milwaukee, Madison got 2.73" of rain in October, which is 0.33" above normal. The observation and the maps, which show Madison as drier than normal, contradict one another because the map averages all of the observations across the region. Madison likely received some localized precip not seen in surrounding locations. That localized precip was washed out when averaged with the surrounding stations. Interestingly enough, Madison didn't receive any measurable precipitation until October 23rd, and still managed to exceed the normal precipitation value.

October 2015 Precip - Milwaukee

October 2015 Precip - Madison

Total Precip

1.90"

Departure

-0.75"

Total Precip

2.73"

Departure

+0.33"

Greatest Precip in 24 Hours

0.87" (10/27 - 10/28)

Greatest Precip in 24 Hours

1.23" (10/27 - 10/28)

Herzog