Weather wrap for October

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -

After a below average summer, rainfall totals ran about a half an inch above average across... — After a below average summer, rainfall totals ran about a half an inch above average across southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.(KEYC Weather)

It’s November 1st that means it is time to do a weather recap for the month of October for southern Minnesota, northern Iowa, and the Mankato area. It was another month with above average temperatures especially for the first half of the month. The average temperature ran roughly 10 degrees above average through October 13th. The second half of the month was closer to seasonable. Precipitation wise, no snow but above average rainfall for the month. This above average rainfall comes after a well below average summer.

For the month of October southern Minnesota and northern Iowa ran 6 degrees above average. The normal average temperature runs around 48º F this year the average temperature was 54º F. A few locations did have single day setting high temperatures earlier in the month. The normal average precipitation around southern Minnesota and northern Iowa is around 2.5 inches. This year the average was around 3 inches of rain so running a half an inch above normal.

For the Mankato area, the observed average temperature was 54.3º F running nearly 6 degrees above normal which is usually around 48.6º F. This marks the 5th warmest October on record. For our precipitation, the Mankato airport recorded 2.74″ of rain. Normal for this time of the year is around 2.37″, meaning we ran about 3 tenths of an inch above normal. If we look at our CoCoRaHS rainfall observation, those rainfall totals ran anywhere between 3.43″ to 4.33″ across Mankato and North Mankato.