...OCTOBER 2009 CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR HUNTSVILLE AND MUSCLE SHOALS...

TEMPERATURES...

THE LARGE SCALE PATTERN CHANGED AFTER THE MONTH OF
SEPTEMBER...LEADING TO SEVERAL COLD AIR INTRUSIONS INTO THE
SOUTHEAST DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. ALTHOUGH NOT AS ANOMALOUSLY
COLD AS PORTIONS OF THE PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST...OCTOBER
TEMPERATURES WERE BELOW NORMAL FOR HUNTSVILLE AND MUSCLE SHOALS.
DAYTIME HIGHS WERE PARTICULARLY COOL FOR BOTH LOCATIONS...WITH
TEMPERATURES AT HUNTSVILLE AND THE SHOALS...MEASURING 2.3 AND 3.8
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...RESPECTIVELY. IN FACT...THE AVERAGE DAYTIME
HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 69.8 DEGREES AT THE SHOALS WAS THE 10TH COOLEST
ON RECORD FOR OCTOBER. NIGHTTIME LOW TEMPERATURES WERE ABOVE NORMAL
AT BOTH LOCATIONS...HOWEVER DAYTIME HIGHS WERE SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO
OFFSET THE WARMER OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES. THIS PATTERN OF ABOVE
NORMAL NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES
IS USUALLY INDICATIVE OF A WET PATTERN...AND OCTOBER WAS INDEED
WETTER THAN NORMAL. WHILE COOL CANADIAN AND MODIFIED ARCTIC AIR DID
PLAY A ROLE IN THE COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES...THE RELATIVE
ABUNDANCE OF CLOUDS AND RAINFALL ALSO PLAYED A ROLE. THE COLDEST
AIRMASS DURING OCTOBER MOVED INTO THE AREA DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE
MONTH...DROPPING MORNING TEMPERATURES INTO THE 30S BY THE 17TH.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES THAT DAY ONLY CLIMBED TO 51 AT HUNTSVILLE
AND 54 AT THE SHOALS...SETTING NEW RECORD LOW MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURES FOR THE DATE. MANY LOCATIONS AROUND THE AREA
SUBSEQUENTLY EXPERIENCED THEIR FIRST FREEZE OF THE AUTUMN SEASON ON
THE MORNING OF THE 19TH. HOWEVER...TEMPERATURES AT HUNTSVILLE AND
THE SHOALS REMAINED JUST ABOVE FREEZING.


BELOW ARE DAILY TEMPERATURE GRAPHS FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER FOR
EACH LOCATION (CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR A LARGER VERSION).


 
 

 


 
 

 

FOLLOWING ARE TEMPERATURE STATISTICS FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER FOR
HUNTSVILLE AND MUSCLE SHOALS...

LOCATION.....................HUNTSVILLE
AVG MONTHLY TEMP.............60.8
NORMAL OCTOBER TEMP*.........61.3
DEVIATION FROM NORMAL........0.5 BELOW NORMAL
MONTHLY RANKING**............33RD COOLEST
WARMEST OCTOBER..............69.4 (1919)
COOLEST OCTOBER..............53.7 (1952)
HIGHEST TEMP (OCT 2009)......89 ON THE 9TH
LOWEST TEMP (OCT 2009).......34 ON THE 19TH
ALL-TIME HIGH FOR OCTOBER....96 (8TH 1911)
ALL-TIME LOW FOR OCTOBER.....23 (30TH 1952)
                                (29TH 1910)
RECORD HIGHS (OCT 2009)......NONE
RECORD LOWS (OCT 2009).......51 ON THE 17TH (LOW MAXIMUM)

LOCATION.....................MUSCLE SHOALS
AVG MONTHLY TEMP.............59.8
NORMAL OCTOBER TEMP*.........61.5
DEVIATION FROM NORMAL........1.7 BELOW NORMAL
MONTHLY RANKING***...........25TH COOLEST
WARMEST OCTOBER..............69.1 (1941)
COOLEST OCTOBER..............52.1 (1917)
HIGHEST TEMP (OCT 2009)......88 ON THE 9TH
LOWEST TEMP (OCT 2009).......33 ON THE 19TH
ALL-TIME HIGH FOR OCTOBER....99 (5TH 1925)
ALL-TIME LOW FOR OCTOBER.....23 (31ST 1917)
RECORD HIGHS (OCT 2009)......NONE
RECORD LOWS (OCT 2009).......54 ON THE 17TH (LOW MAXIMUM)


PRECIPITATION...

PRECIPITATION FOR OCTOBER WAS MUCH ABOVE NORMAL FOR HUNTSVILLE AND
THE SHOALS. IN FACT...IT WAS THE FOURTH WETTEST OCTOBER ON RECORD
FOR THE SHOALS...AND THE WETTEST SINCE 1932. THE PRECIPITATION TOTAL
AT HUNTSVILLE WAS A LITTLE LESS...BUT IT STILL RANKED AS THE SIXTH
WETTEST THERE...JUST SHY OF THE THIRD WETTEST BY ONLY 0.17 INCHES.
ALTHOUGH THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN OVER THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES
CHANGED RATHER MARKEDLY FROM SEPTEMBER...IT WAS STILL CONDUCIVE FOR
BRINGING REPEATED STORM SYSTEMS AND SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST AND THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. HUNTSVILLE RECORDED A TRACE OR
MORE OF PRECIPITATION ON 20 DAYS DURING THE MONTH...WHICH SET A NEW
RECORD. THE SHOALS ALSO RECORDED 20 DAYS OF A TRACE OR MORE OF
PRECIPITATION...HOWEVER THE RECORD OF 21 DAYS SET IN 2002 REMAINS.
THE SHOALS DID SET A NEW DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD THOUGH...ON THE
30TH...WHEN 2.12 INCHES OF RAINFALL WAS RECORDED. THIS SEPTEMBER AND
OCTOBER HAVE BEEN QUITE RAINY FOR THE SHOALS...WITH THE THIRD
WETTEST SEPTEMBER FOLLOWED BY THE FOURTH WETTEST OCTOBER. THE
PRECIPITATION TOTAL FOR THE TWO MONTHS IS 16.96 INCHES...TRAILING
THE WETTEST SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBER PERIOD IN 1932 BY ONLY 0.11
INCHES.


RADAR PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER FOR THE 
HUNTSVILLE FORECAST AREA (CLICK ON THE GRAPH FOR A LARGER VERSION).

 
 

 

RADAR ESTIMATED PRECIPITATION ANOMALIES FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER FOR 
THE HUNTSVILLE FORECAST AREA (CLICK ON THE GRAPH FOR A LARGER VERSION).

 
 

 

FOLLOWING ARE PRECIPITATION STATISTICS FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER FOR
HUNTSVILLE AND MUSCLE SHOALS...

LOCATION.....................HUNTSVILLE
MONTHLY PRECIPITATION........8.17 INCHES
NORMAL PRECIPITATION*........3.54 INCHES
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL........4.63 INCHES ABOVE
MONTHLY RANKING**............6TH WETTEST
WETTEST OCTOBER..............12.06 INCHES (1975)
DRIEST OCTOBER...............0.00 INCH (1924)
WETTEST DAY (OCT 2009).......1.27 INCHES (6TH)
RECORD WETTEST DAY...........5.43 INCHES (OCT 17TH 1928)

LOCATION.....................MUSCLE SHOALS
MONTHLY PRECIPITATION........9.27 INCHES
NORMAL PRECIPITATION*........3.22 INCHES
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL........6.05 INCH ABOVE
MONTHLY RANKING***...........4TH WETTEST
WETTEST OCTOBER..............11.05 INCHES (1918)
DRIEST OCTOBER...............0.00 INCH (2000)
                                       (1963)
                                       (1924)
WETTEST DAY (OCT 2009).......2.12 INCHES (30TH)
RECORD WETTEST DAY...........4.16 INCHES (OCT 20TH 1918)


THE MONTHLY OUTLOOK FOR NOVEMBER FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION
CENTER...

THE ONE MONTH TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK INDICATES EQUAL CHANCES FOR
ABOVE...NEAR...OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE CENTRAL
TENNESSEE VALLEY CLIMATIC ZONES.

THE ONE MONTH PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK INDICATES BEST CHANCES FOR BELOW
NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY CLIMATIC
ZONES. THE PRECIPITATION PROBABILITIES ARE AS FOLLOWS...
ABOVE NORMAL...23 PERCENT
NEAR NORMAL....33 PERCENT
BELOW NORMAL...44 PERCENT


* NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION ARE BASED ON THE CURRENT
1971-2000 CLIMATOLOGICAL PERIOD. ALL TEMPERATURE DATA ARE EXPRESSED
IN DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.

** TEMPERATURE DATA FOR HUNTSVILLE GO BACK TO 1907...WHILE
PRECIPITATION DATA ARE AVAILABLE SINCE 1894. ANY MONTHS THAT CONTAIN
MISSING DAILY TEMPERATURE OR PRECIPITATION DATA ARE NOT COUNTED IN
THE RANKINGS.

*** TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION DATA FOR MUSCLE SHOALS GO BACK TO
1893...HOWEVER SPORADIC OUTAGES OF DATA OCCUR...ESPECIALLY IN THE
1910S AND AGAIN FROM SEPTEMBER 1995 THROUGH MAY 1997. ANY MONTHS
THAT CONTAIN MISSING DAILY TEMPERATURE OR PRECIPITATION DATA ARE NOT
COUNTED IN THE RANKINGS.

NOTE...ALL DATA ABOVE ARE PRELIMINARY AND HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FINAL
QUALITY CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER (NCDC).
THEREFORE...THESE DATA ARE SUBJECT TO REVISION. FINAL AND CERTIFIED
DATA CAN BE ACCESSED AT THE NCDC - HTTP://WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV

ONE MONTH AND SEASONAL TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOKS MAY BE
OBTAINED FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER -
HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV

$$

KDW