NWS: Region skipped fall, went straight to winter

The National Weather Service reports temperatures this year missed the mark on fall weather, jumping straight from summer highs to winter norms.

The Fall Seasonal Summary, Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, shows temperatures averaged out near normal for the fall season, but they were no where near normal the majority of the time, according to the NWS.

“The short version is we went straight from summer to winter, with very little in between,” meteorologists reported. “But for those that want the longer version, here you go: September into the first week of October were exceptionally warm, feeling much more like the middle of summer than fall.”

National Weather Service

September ranked as the warmest on record in Cape Girardeau, second warmest in Paducah, Kentucky, and fifth warmest in Evansville, Indiana.

This was followed by the warmest October temperatures on record at all three locations on Oct. 2.

The pattern changed rather quickly though, with near record lows being observed down into the 20s on Halloween. Paducah and Evansville observed their coldest start to November on record through Nov. 18. Temperatures moderated during the last 2 weeks of the month though, the NWS said. November finished as the fourth coldest in Cape Girardeau, sixth coldest in Evansville and ninth coldest in Paducah.

For the fall season, Evansville only observed 25 days with high temperatures in the 60s or 70s. This broke the record for the fewest number of so called “comfortable days” for a fall season, with the previous record being 26 days set in fall of 1947. Paducah observed 31 days with high temperatures in the 60s or 70s, tying for the second fewest with 2018 and 1997. The record is 26 days set in fall of 1976.

Precipitation was above normal across the majority of the Quad state region, according to the NWS, with 12-15 inches common across a large swath of the area.

Poplar Bluff saw about 13.5 inches of rain over the fall season, about three inches less for northern parts of the county than normal. Areas of Wayne, Carter and Ripley counties were also slightly drier than normal.

Some areas of Stoddard County had close to 17 inches, closer to the normal average, according to the NWS.

The highest total observed in the forecast area was 18.6” at a CoCoRaHS station in Scott City. The exception to the wet conditions was across portions of the Missouri Ozark Foothills, southeast Illinois, southwest Indiana and northwest Kentucky. These areas received near to slightly below normal precipitation amounts for the fall season. Several locations observed their driest September on record, including Evansville. Paducah went 29 days without any measurable rain, marking the longest dry stretch since 1999. But the year of plenty returned in October and November, making it a short-lived drought.