Slightly above average temperatures & rainfall
Most of October 2010 was near normal with respect to temperatures. 84% of October (26 out of 31 days) were within 5° above or below normal. Overall, for October, Syracuse Hancock International Airport averaged 51.3°. The average temperature takes each daily high and low temperature and averages them together over the 31 days. That number was 1.2° above normal. Daytime highs were nearly right on target with an average of 59.8° (0.1° above normal). It was the overnight lows that were much higher than normal with an average of 40.4° (2.4° above normal). Of the 6 days that were more extreme, 5 of those days were warmer than normal. Most of those occurred during the final part of the month. Between October 25th through October 28th, central New York received a Indian Summer stretch of weather. Syracuse received a 3 day stretch were the high hit at least 70° and another day it reached 65°. The total amount of 70° days was 4. The warmest day of the month was 74° on October 26th. The coldest observed temperature was 33° on October 31st.
With respect to precipitation, our rainfall was somewhat above average. The official monthly total for rain at Hancock Airport was 4.10” which was 0.90” above normal. The heaviest rain occurred on Friday November 15th (0.93”). The heaviest monthly rainfall on record for Syracuse occurred in 1955 when 8.29” fell. The driest October occurred in 1963, when 0.21” fell.
Snowfall was slightly below normal. Syracuse officially received a trace of snow (which is snow that falls but does not accumulate on the ground). This occurred twice during the month (October 22nd and October 31st). The average amount of snow for Syracuse for October, believe it or not, is 0.5”. So, October finished 0.5” of snow below normal. The heaviest monthly snow on record for Syracuse was 5.7” back in 1988. There have been a number of times when zero snow occurred.
Looking forward into November, notably below normal temperatures will occur for the majority of the first week. Wednesday November 3rd will be the closest to normal. However, the rest of the first 7 days will be below to much below normal. There are indications that temperatures will try to rebound to near or above average for the 2nd week of the month. Thereafter, it is tough to determine exact temperatures. The Climate Prediction Center forecasts the whole month of November to be near or possibly above normal.
