November 2005 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for November 2005 and Fall 2005

     The wet trend that began in late August continued through Fall 2005 in Saint Cloud. During the month of November, 2.56 inches of precipitation were measured at the Saint Cloud Regional Airport. This brought the Fall 2005 (October 1-November 30) total to 12.91 inches, 6.20 inches above normal for the three-month period. This made Fall 2005 the second wettest fall in the 113 years of Saint Cloud precipitation records.

     November 2005 held up its end with 2.56 inches of melted precipitation, 1.02 inches above the normal. The November 2005 rainfall total tied with November 1971 for 14th place among previous Novembers. There were two major precipitation events in November 2005, the cold rain on November 12-13 and the rain that produced a major ice storm in western Minnesota on November 28-29. Each of these events resulted in more than 3/4 inch of precipitation. The final Minnesota State Climatology Office growing season rainfall map shows that the mid-November event was the last of a series of rain events that produced rainfall totals that rank among the top 5 percent of growing seasons from Saint Cloud westward and in the Zimmerman, Cambridge, Elk River areas. All of Minnesota had normal to above normal rainfall except the Northeast and the Southeast parts of the state.

     While Saint Cloud was often lacking sufficient cold air to produce snow, we did pick up 4.6 inches of snow, as recorded at the Saint Cloud Airport, and 6.5 inches at Saint Cloud State University. This ranked well below the normal November snowfall of 8.8 inches. As mentioned above, Saint Cloud only missed a lot more snowfall by about 100-150 miles. We did get the moisture, but a lot fell in the form of rain.

     Average temperatures did make a major change in November. The first half of the month continued the late summer and fall trend of unseasonably warm temperatures. The average temperature of November 1-15 was 40.9°F (average high 52.0°F, average low 29.7°F). By itself, this would have ranked as the second warmest November. However, after the series of storms during November 12-15, colder air masses began to pass through Minnesota. Even the milder periods of the second half of the month resulted in highs in only the 40's, not the 50's and 60's seen earlier in the month. The average temperature of November 15-16 was 25.5°F (average high 32.5°F, average low 18.5°F), which was within a degree of normal. Overall, November 2005 ended up with an average temperature of 33.2°F, 4.4°F above normal, but only the 37th warmest November on record. November did cap a fall season with three above normal months. The average fall (September 1 - November 30) temperature was 48.4°F, 4.6°F above normal. This fall tied with 1934 as the 14th warmest fall in Saint Cloud history.

     For the time being, the colder weather is winning out. High temperatures during the last day of November and the first couple of days of December has been more typical of mid-January than early December. The increase in snow cover in the Northern Plains combined with a slow moving weather pattern across Canada promises more colder than normal weather for the next several days. However, the overall weather patterns have yet to show any consistency, so I have no confidence in a winter forecast at this point. The only prediction I'm willing to make is that most people will tell me that they want more snow right up to December 25. I won't hear much from people around then, since they're busy. Then, about January 3, people will begin to ask me to get rid of all this depressing white stuff.