Weather

November 2005 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

This Month's Daily Statistics

The Deluge Continued in November

Wettest Fall in 79 Years

     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.

    November 2005 Statistics
Temperatures (°F)
November 2005
Normal
November Average High Temperature (°F)
42.2
37.2
November Average Low Temperature (°F)
24.1
20.4
Mean Temperature for November (°F)
33.2
28.8
November Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for November 2005 (°F)
67
November 2nd
Coldest High Temperature for November 2005 (°F)
21
November 30th
Warmest Low Temperature for November 2005 (°F)
38
November 3rd
Coldest Low Temperature for November 2005 (°F)
3
November 17th
Record Temperatures in November 2005
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
No Temperature Records Set
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
November 2005 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
7
9.9
November 2005 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
25
25.7
November 2005 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
0
1.5
Precipitation (in)
November 2005
Normal
November 2005 Precipitation (in)
2.56@
1.54
@tied with 1971 for 14th Wettest November
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
November 2005 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
10
6.6
November 2005 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
6
3.0
November 2005 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
4
1.5
November 2005 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
2
0.7
November 2005 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.2
November Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in November 2005
0.91
November 28th
Record Precipitation in November 2005
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
No Precipitation Records Set
Snowfall (in)
November 2005
Normal
November 2005 Airport Snowfall (in)
4.6
8.8
2005-2005 Airport Seasonal Snowfall (1 Oct 2005 - 30 Nov 2005)
4.6
9.6
November 2005 SCSU Snowfall (in)
6.
8.8
2005-2005 SCSU Seasonal Snowfall (1 Oct 2005 - 30 Nov 2005)
0.4
9.6
November Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Airport Daily Snowfall in November 2005
1.7
November 25th
Most SCSU Daily Snowfall in November 2005
0.3
November 27th
Record Snowfall in November 2005
Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
No Snowfall Records Set
November Daily Records
Fall (September 1-November 30) 2005 Statistics
Temperatures (°F)
Fall 2005
Normal
Average Fall High Temperature (°F)
59.0
54.2
Average Fall Low Temperature (°F)
37.8
33.5
Mean Temperature for Fall (°F)
48.4*
43.8

*Tied with 1938 as 14th Warmest Fall on Record

Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
2005
Normal
Fall Precipitation (in)
12.91**
6.71
2005 Growing Season Precipitation (April 1-November 30) (in)
28.44
23.59
2005 Total Precipitation (January 1-November 30) (in)
31.86
26.44
Snowfall (in)
Fall 2005
Normal
2005-2006 Seasonal Snowfall (1 Oct 2005 - 30 Nov 2006)
4.6
9.6

**2nd Wettest Fall in Saint Cloud History (1887-2005)

Saint Cloud's 10 Wettest/Driest Falls

Warmest Falls in Saint Cloud
(125 Years; Average = 45.2°F; Standard Deviation = 2.5°F)

Wettest Novembers in Saint Cloud
(109 Years; Average = 1.28 IN; Standard Deviation = 0.98 IN)

Rank

Temperature

Year

Rank
Precipitation
Year

1

51.3°F

1963

1
4.16 IN
1922

2

51.2°F

1931

2
4.02 IN
1931

3(tie)

50.2°F

1908

3
3.83 IN
1996

3(tie)

50.2°F

1914

4
3.74 IN
1977

5

49.6°F

1922

5
3.24 IN
1975

6

49.4°F

1900

6
3.14 IN
1940

7

49.3°F

1953

7
3.11 IN
1983
8(tie)

48.8°F

1899

8
3.09 IN
2000

8(tie)

48.8°F

2004

9
2.99 IN
1918

10

48.6°F

1998

10
2.83 IN
2001

11(tie)

48.5°F

1882

11
2.76 IN
1896
11(tie)
48.5°F
1939
12
2.75 IN
1988
11(tie)
48.5°F
2001
13
2.73 IN
1970
14(tie)
48.4°F
1938
14(tie)
2.56 IN
1971
14(tie)
48.4°F
2005
14(tie)
2.56 IN
2005

 

November Daily Records

 

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu