by Barney Leach
By Barney Leach
October 2020 opened with the beginning of a three-week drought and produced a much below normal rainfall of only 1.46 inches. We had only four days with measureable rainfall with a one-day greatest total of 0.63 inch on October 28, 2020. Our normal rainfall for October is 5.27 inches.
Our rainfall total for the year now stands at 52.65 inches. Normal through October 34.75 inches. Our normal annual rainfall is 42.41 inches.
We have had a somewhat up-side-down rainfall year in that we are 13.90 inches above normal for the year with a couple of mini-droughts sandwiched in and the normally driest month, July being the wettest with 7.81 inches and the normally wettest month, October being the second driest with 1.46 inches.
Our record wettest October was 14.36 inches of rain in 2015 and our record driest was 0.13 inch in 1995.
October temperatures were about normal with highs mostly in the mid 70’s to mid 80’s but we did have a high of 91 degrees on October 11. We had a variety of low temperatures in the forty to sixty degree range with a few in the 70’s. Low temperature for the month was 40 degrees on October 29.
Looking ahead to November: November usually ushers in our first autumn freeze and some frosty mornings. Our normal November rainfall is 3.49 inches. The record wettest November was 12.26 inches in 2000 and the record driest was 0.64 inch in 2021.
The rainfall and temperature data was recorded by Barney Leach, former co-p weather volunteer for the National Weather Service, and former weather volunteer for Channel 8 in Dallas, Channel 10 in Waco and radio station KNES in Fairfield.
