October feels like the transition month from summer warmth to the cold season most years. This was certainly the case in the Plains as some spots experienced record lows with others feeling the opposite with record highs.
Oct. 16 was notably cool in Kansas, with Salina and Hill City marking record lows of 24 degrees Fahrenheit that morning. A few days earlier in Texas, Austin set not only a daily record high, but a monthly record high for all of October when the temperature soared to 101 degrees on Oct. 13. Just a day later, Houston tied its monthly record high for October with a temperature of 99 degrees.
Waco also set a monthly record high for October with 104 degrees on Oct.13. This wasn’t the only day of triple-digit heat in October for that location, which also led to a new record for the number of days hitting the triple digits in October for Waco. This heat also set a new date for the latest in the year that Waco has hit 100 degrees or warmer.
October was another month where rain helped some spots, while others remained dry.
The benefit of the dry weather was it helped keep harvest moving as trucks filled with corn and soybeans.
Crops that hadn’t reached their harvest stage felt the impact of the lack of moisture, along with some pasture and rangeland in the Plains.
Unfortunately, the stretch of dry weather remained into the first part of October for San Antonio and Wichita Falls, Texas. Early September was the last time these spots had any measurable rainfall. Omaha and Norfolk, Nebraska, where they were still dealing with the effects of a record dry September, remained dry into the first half of October as well.
The forecast does not look favorable for precipitation into November for parts of the Plains. Long-term trends show precipitation totals below normal for the month for the southern Plains into southwest Kansas.
Temperatures will likely be above seasonal norms for the southern Plains, much of Kansas and eastern Nebraska for the next month.
The three-month outlook leans toward above normal temperatures remaining through early 2025 from the southern Plains into Nebraska.
During the next three months, abnormally dry conditions are forecast again for the southern Plains into southwest Kansas.
Continuing to look ahead, La Niña is still forecast to begin this fall and remain into the winter. Forecast models indicate a weaker La Niña.
I’m always keeping an eye to the sky (and the weather patterns), so watch for December’s update.
Editor’s note: Regina Bird grew up on a farm near Belleville, Kansas. The views from the farm helped spur her interest in weather. Following high school, she went on to get a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from the University of Kansas. She worked as a television meteorologist for nine years in Nebraska. Follow her on Twitter: @ReginaBirdWX.
