Weather

October 2023 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

 

 

 

October Fills Out Weather Bingo Card

Saint Cloud October 2023 Weather Summary  

Near Record Warm May Through October

What did October 2023 produce?

  1. Heat
  2. Rain
 
Monthly Category Precipitation (inch) Average (inch)
2023 January-April Precipitation (in)
9.97 (+4.46 from average, 4th highest on record, most since 2001)
5.61
2023 May Rainfall (in)
0.87 (-2.79 from average, 4th driest)
3.66
2023 June Rainfall (in)
0.67 (-3.08 from average, 3rd driest)
3.75
2023 July Rainfall (in)
1.83 (-1.77 from average)
3.60
2023 August Rainfall (in)
4.50 (+0.50 from average)
4.00
2023 September 1-22 Rainfall (in)
0.10 (-2.23 from average)
2.33
2023 May 1-September 22 Dry Period Rainfall (in)
7.97 (-9.86 from average)
17.83
2023 September 23 - October 31 Rainfall (in)
6.36 (+3.09 from average)
3.29
     
Totals    
2023 May-October Rainfall (in)
14.33 (-6.30 from average; 18th driest)
20.63
2023 Total Precipitation (in) (January 1 - October 31)
24.30 (-1.94 from average)
26.24

 

  1. Cold (end of Growing Season)
    • First frost? 30 degrees on October 10. Still, this frost was about two weeks later than average.
    • First hard freeze? 24 degrees on October 28, leaving a growing season relative both to 32 degrees and 28 degrees in the longest 10 percent of seasons (see table below)
St. Cloud 2023 Growing Season vs Average
Threshold (°F) Last Spring (Avg) First Fall (Avg) Days Avg Days
32 Apr 26 (5/10) Oct 10 (Sep 26) 166 (longest 10%) 137
28 Apr 26 (4/29) Oct 28 (Oct 4) 184 (longest 10%) 158

 

  1. Snow
  2. But, no severe weather..... (there was in southern Minnesota)

Rainfall Made Up About One Third of Warm Season Shortfall (Wetter to South)

The result was an offset of the lack of rain during the 2023 warm season. The rainfall deficit was the largest between May and mid-September (9.86 inches behind; 7.97 inches actual, 17.83 inches average; see above table), but St. Cloud picked up 6.36 inches from September 22 through the end of October, making up about a third (3.09 inches) of the big deficit.

Ross Carlyon, National Weather Service Twin Cities climate guru, broke down the history of St. Cloud warm season rainfall between the equinoxes. He showed that, in 2023, St. Cloud had a shortfall well over 9 inches, making it the 5th driest warm season between the March and September Equinoxes. On the other hand, the period from September 23 through the end of October was the 5th wettest in St. Cloud records, making up over 3 inches of the rain shortfall.

According to the comparison between the October 31 US drought monitor and the September 19 US drought monitor (set to those dates on the two week comparison page), all of the area in the extreme (bright red) and exceptional (brown) drought categories had eased. In the Twin Cities, where even more rain fell (over 2 inches Oct 12-14; half inch to 2 inches Oct 23-28), with over 5 inches (red) for the month, all of the drought categories were dropped. In north central and central Minnesota, the 6-inch plus rainfall deficits since May still have the lower two categories of drought (shades of tan). Central Minnesota is running out of time to make up the shortfall before the ground freezes for the winter and the early November pattern hadn't produced much precipitation.

Warm October Makes 2nd Warmest May Through October

Temperature-wise, the heat through the first two-thirds of October had threatened a top 10 warmest October since the average temperature was in the lower 50's. This was a statistical outlier, since only 8 days were more than 10 degrees warmer than average (October 5-17 was within 5 degrees either side of average). But, the late season cold, as well as the rapidly falling normals (high temperatures 10 degrees above average are in the 70's during the first week but are in the 60's in late October), cooled the monthly average to 49.4 degrees, 3.7 degrees above average. That was merely the 31st warmest out of the 141 Octobers in St. Cloud records.

Still, it was yet another milder than average month, so the May through October average temperature is 65.0 degrees, 3.9 degrees above average. That's the second warmest May-October temperature in St. Cloud records. Only 1900 (66.6 degrees) was warmer. St. Cloud 2023 is 0.3 degrees warmer than the 3rd place year of 1921. Basically, all of 2023 has been warmer than average, except in March and April, when the prolonged snow cover kept temperatures down.

St. Cloud, MN 10 Warmest May-Octobers

(average: 61.1°F)

Rank Avg Temperature (°F) Year
1 66.6 1900
2 65.0 2023
3 64.7 1921
4 64.5 1931
5 64.2 1936
6 64.0 1914
7 63.9 1934
8 (tie) 63.8 1922
8 (tie) 63.8 2007
10 (tie) 63.7 1901
10 (tie) 63.7 1939

The two 90-degree-highs at the start of the month ran the warm season total to 24 days, which tied 1935 as the 11th most number of 90 degree days on record. That was the most since the severe heat wave and drought year of 1988, which had 33 days with a high of 90 or above, 7 of which were 100 or above. 1988 is still the only year since the 1930's in the top 10 in 90 degree days and accounted for 7 of the 11 100 degree days since 1950.

 

    October 2023 Statistics

 
Temperatures (°F)
October 2023
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
58.9
55.9
Average Low Temperature (°F)
39.9
35.5
Mean Temperatures for October (°F)
49.4
45.7
     
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
October 2023 Days with High Temperature of 90°F or higher
2
0.02
2023 Days with High Temperature of 90°F or higher
24 (11th most tie with 1935; most since 1988)
11.43
October 2023 Days with High Temperature of 32°F or lower
0
0.4
October 2023 Days with Low Temperature of 32°F or lower
7
11.0
October Temperature Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for October 2023 (°F)
91 (broke daily and monthly records; see below)
October 1
Coldest High Temperature for October 2023 (°F)
33
October 28
Warmest Low Temperature for October 2023 (°F)
65
October 1
Coldest Low Temperature for October 2023 (°F)
19
October 18
Record Temperatures in October 2023
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Monthly Record Warm High
91
October 1
90 on Oct 2, 1953, Oct 2, 1992
Monthly Record Warm Average
78
October 1
76 on Oct 2, 1953
Daily Record Warm High
91
October 1
86 in 1963, 1992
 
90 (tie)
October 2
tied record set in 1953, 1992
Daily Record Warm Low
65
October 1
62 in 2021
 
64
October 3
63 in 1900
Daily Record Warm Average
78
October 1
69 in 1922
 
77
October 2
76 in 1953
 
75 (tie)
October 3
tied record set in 1922
Precipitation (in)
This Year
Normal
October 2023 Precipitation (in)
3.81
2.61
2023 March Equinox-September Equinox Dry Period (March 22-September 22)
10.97 (-9.92 from average; 5th driest)
20.89
2023 September Equinox through end of October (September 22-October 31)
6.36 (+2.96 from average)
3.40
Growing Season (April-October) 2023 Precipitation (in)
18.07 (-5.54 from average)
23.24
2023 Total Precipitation (in)
24.30 (-1.94 from average)
26.24
     
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
October 2023 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
14
7.4
October 2023 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
8
4.1
October 2023 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
3
2.5
October 2023 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
3
1.2
October 2023 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
1
0.4
October Precipitation Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in October 2023

1.54 inch (set daily record; see below)

October 13
Precipitation Records Set
Amount (in)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Precipitation
1.54
October 13
1.23 inch in 1981
Snowfall (in)
This Year
Normal
October 2023 Snowfall (in)
2.5
0.7
Snowfall Thresholds    
2
0.61
1
0,17
1
0.08
0
0.01 (October 20, 2020)
     
October Snowfall Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall in October 2023
2.2
October 30
 

Last Update: 8 November 2023

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