Denton and all of North Texas endured an extremely warm and dry October.
DFW Airport recorded its warmest October ever with a day/night average temperature of 74.1 degrees which is 6.6 degrees above normal.
In Denton, the average daytime high was 82 degrees and the average early morning low was 58, producing a day/night average temperature near 71 degrees, nearly 5 degrees warmer than normal.
Our warmest high temperature was 91 on the 18th, while our coolest overnight low was 44 on the 22nd.
After significant rains through most of the year, the tap was nearly turned off during October. Denton had one big rain of 1.61 inches on the 7th and another half-inch on the 20th. The eastern half of Denton County picked up another half inch or more of rain on the morning of the 26th, but only a trace fell that day at Denton Enterprise Airport.
October’s rainfall total was 2.12 inches which was nearly 2 inches below normal. Despite the disappointing rainfall in October, through the first ten months of the year, Denton has received over 44 inches of rain.
No severe weather was reported in Denton during the month, although just northwest, Montague County suffered severe straight-line wind damage on the morning of the 26th. Since severe weather was so scarce during October, we should probably expect to see more and heavier storms in November.
Looking ahead, the extended forecast trends have shifted significantly. In September, there was virtually no trend pointing to warmer, cooler, wetter or drier-than-normal weather. This month, the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting warmer and drier-than-normal weather for November.
Two things have contributed to the new outlook: One, excessive heat and drought tend to perpetuate themselves. Even though October’s excessive heat and drought occurred during a relatively comfortable time of year, there’s a better than even chance that November will follow suit.
Two, government forecasters have jumped back onto the La Nina bandwagon. Pacific Ocean temperatures have resumed their cooling trend, and a mild to moderate La Nina is expected to develop during the winter. La Nina winters in Texas tend to be relatively warm and dry.
Brad Barton is Chief Meteorologist of WBAP820/KLIF570/99.5 “The Wolf.” Paul Ruekberg of NewsWatch Dallas contributed to this report.
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