October 2020 Climate Review: Temperatures finished slightly below normal for the month. As is typically the case during the Fall season, we experienced our fair share of ups and downs. Paducah and Evansville both observed 7 days reaching 80 degrees, which was right near what you would normally expect in October. Freezing temperatures occurred across portions of the area on October 5th and 16th, while the entire region experienced frost. The October 5th sub-freezing temperatures were nearly two weeks earlier than normal for those that experienced them, including Cape Girardeau, MO and Mount Vernon, IL. Paducah and Evansville both remained above freezing for those events.
October finished excessively wet across the region. After drought conditions were worsening through mid month, we ended up finishing as the 2nd wettest October on record in Paducah, 4th wettest in Cape Girardeau, and 9th wettest in Evansville. Most of the area finished the month between 5 and 9 inches of rain (2 to 5 inches above normal). The highest observed amount was 9.53” at the NWS Paducah office. It was hard to believe after the 11th driest start to October on record through the 18th in Evansville (0.10”) and Paducah (0.31”), and 7th driest start in Cape Girardeau (0.12”). We instantly flipped the faucet on though and the final 11 days of the month were the wettest end to October on record across the region. We observed the heaviest rains on October 19, 28, and 29. During a 12 day stretch from October 18 through 29, Paducah and Evansville both recorded measurable rain on 9 of those days. It was quite the gloomy stretch, which fortunately ended and gave us a bright sunny end to the month on Halloween.
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.
| October 2020 Review: Precipitation and Temperature Maps (Click on image to enlarge) |
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| Climate Maps are from the Northeast Regional Climate Center |
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