Fall heat wave to smash records into first days of November
By Chris Dolce for Weather.com
Record warmth will continue to give a summer feel into the first days of November this week, with hundreds of daily record highs and warm lows likely to be set, along with some monthly record highs in parts of the heat-weary South and Plains states.
Dozens of daily record highs were broken Monday, making it the hottest Halloween on record in those cities.
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Halloween’s record highs included Dodge City, Kansas (90 degrees), Garden City, Kansas (90 degrees), Asheville, North Carolina (81 degrees), Huntsville, Alabama (88 degrees), Tallahassee, Florida (90 degrees), Pensacola, Florida (89 degrees), and Fort Smith, Arkansas (89 degrees).
Atlanta also set a new record high Monday at 86 degrees, which is the latest on record that it has been that warm.
Denver finished the month of October with no measurable snow for the third-consecutive October, which is the first time this happened in Denver weather history, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado.
Some southern cities could set a new daily record high each day through much of this week.
This continues what has been a much warmer-than-average month for the vast majority of Americans east of the Rockies,including a mid-October warm spell that shattered records.
Below are details on the forecast temperatures through Thursday, along with perspective on how warm this October was.
More from The Weather Channel: U.S. Warm Records Trouncing Cold Records
Tuesday’s Forecast
– Highs 10 to 25 degrees above average will surge back into the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Appalachians, while continuing to encompass much of the Plains and South.
– 70s are possible as far north as Lower Michigan and western Pennsylvania.
– 80s will once again rule the Ohio Valley, central and southern Plains and South.
– A few 90s are possible in the Deep South.
– Record highs will again likely be numerous from the Southeast to the Ohio Valley and in parts of the – Plains, threatening some all-time November record highs in some areas.
– Potential all-time November record highs (record to beat is shown): Amarillo, Texas (87 degrees); Cincinnati, Ohio (81 degrees); Louisville, Kentucky (84 degrees); Nashville, Tennessee (85 degrees)
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Wednesday’s Forecast
– Highs more than 10 degrees above average will spread into parts of the Northeast, while also continuing in much of the Midwest and South. Portions of the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes will be more than 20 degrees above average.
– 70s are expected in the southern Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic states.
– 80s will dominate the Southeast, though it won’t be quite as warm as previous days.
– Daily record highs will be within reach in parts of the South and Ohio Valley.
Thursday’s Forecast
– Highs more than 10 degrees above average will continue in much of the South. Portions of the mid-Atlantic states could be up to 20 degrees warmer-than-average.
– 70s are expected in the mid-Atlantic states, with a few places even nearing 80 degrees.
– 80s will once again dominate the Southeast.
– Daily record highs will be within reach in parts of the South and mid-Atlantic.
Heat Wave Recap
Thursday, Phoenix smashed their record latest-in-season 100-degree high by four days.
Other record highs were tied or set Thursday in Denver (83 degrees), Salt Lake City (78 degrees) and Tucson, Arizona (97 degrees).
Friday, October 28, record highs were shattered in Garden City, Kansas (91 degrees – old record was 83), and Dodge City, Kansas (92 degrees – old record was 85) and new records were set in Amarillo, Texas (87 degrees), Pueblo, Colorado (87 degrees) and Meridian, Mississippi (89 degrees).
Friday was the fifth daily record high this month in Meridian, and was their hottest temperature so late in the season. Previously, the latest they reached 89 degrees was October 26, 2010. This is their average high on September 8.
Daily record high temperatures were toppled in many cities on Saturday. Among them were Huntsville, Alabama (88 degrees), and Amarillo, Texas (91 degrees), which both saw their warmest temperature so late in the calendar year.
Daily record highs were also set Saturday in Asheville, North Carolina (81 degrees), Blacksburg, Virginia (79 degrees), Nashville, Tennessee (86 degrees), Tupelo, Mississippi (89 degrees), St. Louis, Missouri (86 degrees), and Phoenix, Arizona (96 degrees).
Numerous daily record highs were broken Sunday. Atlanta’s record high of 86 degrees was the latest 86-degree day on record there, surpassing the previous date of Oct. 28, 1940.
Meridian, Mississippi, hit 90 degrees Sunday, the latest such reading on record, there, beating the previous record by a full week (Oct. 23, 1941), not to mention adding to a new yearly record of 90-degree-plus days, there.
Other daily records were tied or set Sunday in Birmingham, Alabama (87 degrees), Knoxville, Tennessee (83 degrees), New Orleans (87 degrees), Austin, Texas (88 degrees), Washington D.C.’s Dulles Airport (84 degrees), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (81 degrees), and Atlantic City, New Jersey (80 degrees).
How Warm It’s Been
Many locations in the central and eastern United States experienced a very warm October.
Here are a few of the cities that were seeing a top-five warmest October through Saturday, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
Record warmest October-to-date through Saturday:
Dallas
El Paso, Texas
Huntsville, Alabama
Lubbock, Texas
Midland, Texas
New Orleans
Tucson, Arizona
Second warmest October-to-date through Saturday:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Colorado Springs
Houston (Hobby Airport)
According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, among reporting stations with at least a 30-year period of record, there were roughly 11 daily record highs tied or broken for every record low in October.
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