Great Barrington — Mother Nature said “Boo!” on Halloween with a wild end to a wet, warm October. Strong southwest winds gusted in some areas to 60 mph, giving Great Barrington and surrounding areas near record warmth and high humidity.
The month of October overall was 3 degrees warmer than average. Fifteen of the 31 days finished above average high reading. At no time did the temperature dip below 30 degrees. Many outlying areas dipped below 30, but not at my station just east of the Housatonic River. The first reading below freezing was Oct. 5.
The big story on October’s weather was the rain — lots of it. The total of nearly 8 and a quarter inches was the third most for the month since weather record-keeping at this station began in 1965. The month’s heavy precipitation was a complete reversal of the very dry conditions of June, July, August and September.
Now the question is: What will November bring? One forecaster said, “a continuation of October.” We will see.
The 55-year average figures for October are listed below. Have a great month.
DATE HI TEMP LO TEMP SKY RAIN
1-Oct 75 57 CHANGING 1.17
2-Oct 78 55 CHANGING 0.02
3-Oct 55 48 CLOUDY 0.38
4-Oct 54 40 CHANGING 0.02
5-Oct 58 30 FAIR
6-Oct 64 35 CHANGING 0.01
7-Oct 65 55 CLOUDY 1.11
8-Oct 64 46 CHANGING 0.17
9-Oct 57 41 CHANGING 0.12
10-Oct 67 48 CHANGING 0.04
11-Oct 62 43 CHANGING
12-Oct 64 52 CHANGING
13-Oct 63 41 FAIR
14-Oct 70 36 FAIR
15-Oct 57 33 FAIR
16-Oct 59 31 CHANGING 0.55
17-Oct 53 44 CLOUDY 2.62
18-Oct 50 44 CHANGING 0.01
19-Oct 57 33 FAIR
20-Oct 58 30 CHANGING 0.05
21-Oct 66 37 FAIR
22-Oct 59 41 CHANGING 0.2
23-Oct 62 38 CHANGING 0.27
24-Oct 67 30 FAIR
25-Oct 58 37 CHANGING 0.01
26-Oct 59 38 CHANGING
27-Oct 50 47 CLOUDY 0.94
28-Oct 60 48 CHANGING
29-Oct 60 49 CLOUDY 0.01
30-Oct 63 54 CLOUDY 0.02
31-Oct 70 58 CLOUDY 0.52
TOTAL 61 43 Mean:52 8.24
AVERAGE: TEMP-61/38 Mean 49.5 RAIN-4.03″
