October finally gave summer-scorched North Texas an inkling of what fall was supposed to feel like, but only reluctantly. The first four days of the month brought nearly an inch of rain — 0.92 inches (some areas in southern Denton County received much more). It was the first significant precipitation in 76 days of unrelenting heat.
The early rains offered little indication of what would follow. Denton picked up just another 0.15 inches at midmonth and 0.05 inches on Oct. 29. That last bit of rain came from remnants of Pacific Tropical Storm Vance, which moved across the state about the same time Vice President JD Vance held a campaign event and town hall meeting in North Texas. Total rainfall recorded at Denton Enterprise Airport was just 1.12 inches, more than 3 inches below October’s normal rainfall of 4.17 inches.
Denton County remains desperately dry. Year-to-date precipitation totaled just 14.91 inches, less than half the normal rainfall of 30.13 inches through the first 10 months of the year. The second-worst drought in North Texas history is still underway. The worst drought on record occurred during the “mini-Dust Bowl” years of the mid-1950s. Just imagine how many more people depend on rain and surface water now than 70 years ago. Thankfully, newer reservoirs brought online in recent decades have helped meet that need.
Temperatures remained sharply above normal. Denton recorded five days at or above 90 degrees, including a high of 94 on Oct. 13. The average high for the month was nearly 82 degrees, more than 4 degrees above October’s normal average high of 77.6. The average low was 57.7 degrees, exactly 5 degrees above the normal low of 52.7.
For most of us, that meant another month of electric bills in the $300 to $400 range. There were finally a few nights when the air conditioning kicked off. Starting Oct. 16, overnight lows dropped into the 40s for seven consecutive nights.
The last couple of days of October topped out in the mid-70s, with heavy cloud cover, some fog and 0.05 inches of rain.
Looking ahead, there’s reason to be optimistic. The “Super El Niño” in the Pacific, marked by warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures, is likely to generate several storm systems that will ride the subtropical jet stream from the southwest.
Southwestern storm systems can lose focus while crossing the mountains of northern Mexico. But unlike systems arriving from the northwest, which lose much of their moisture west of the Rockies, southwestern systems retain much of their Pacific moisture. Their surface winds can also draw in richer moisture from the Gulf, leading to significant rainfall, especially in fall and early winter. So, hang on a little longer!
