OCTOBER 2009 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY IN REVIEW

From the North Shore of Little Rock Lake

Jim Hovda Rice, MN.  56367-0265 jhovda.rice@jetup.net

 

          What a month.  October was the 2nd wettest, 9th coolest, 8th snowiest and ended the summer as the 9th coolest summer in local history.  To put this in some perspective, twenty-two days with snow or rain and only one day when the temperature made it to 60 degrees.  I’m not sure, but I’ll bet we only saw sun on two or three days.  No wonder we are already in a blue mood.  Even the good Professor Bob Weisman giving the daily weather during the month did not bring good news for those who craved some sunshine.  The only positive side of all the rain, the trees will have had a good drink and the drought conditions in most of the state received some relief.  For those of you familiar with the “net” a lot of interesting weather information and a really good weather forecast can be obtained at http://stcloudstate.edu/weather/default.asp if you are interested.

 

WEATHER LAST OCTOBER:       Dryer and a lot warmer.   Tho we had above average rainfall (3.59") we were well behind the 6.56" this year.  There was NO SNOW.  The most rain fell on the 7th when I recorded 1.2".  Eleven days saw the mercury rise above 60 degrees (F) with the warmest day occurring on the 12th with a 70.7 degree reading.  We ended the month with a total precipitation of 29.09" for the year.  No snow so far.

 

WEATHER:       All the rain that fell on twenty-two days totaled 6.56" bringing the total precipitation for the year to 27.89".   Still behind last year tho.  We had SNOW or traces on five days.  Yes, my snow blower has been serviced and is ready for action.  The most rain fell on the 2nd when I recorded 1.94" and the most snow fell on the 10th and 13th when I measured 1.2" of the white stuff.   Our cool October was just that, cool.   On the 14th a really hard frost prompted me to install the heater in the birdbath.   In mid-month we saw late November weather when the temp on the low side on the 11th was 22.1 degrees (F)  and stayed coooool until the 14th.  The low reading was a chilly 20.4 degrees (F) on both the 13th and 14th.  The warm temp for the month occurred on the 20th when we recorded the only temp above 60 degrees with a 61.5 degree (F) reading.   Last month we had eleven days with readings above 60 degrees(F).   The average Low was 33.31 and the high was 47.28 degrees (F). 

 

WEATHER RECORDS:        The most rain locally for an Oct fell in 2005 when we received 8.22", and snowfall 6.0" in 1995.  Locally the low record temp for October was a 2 degree (F) reading while our out state folks recorded a -16 degrees below zero (F) at Roseau.  On the warm side of things, St. Cloud recorded a balmy 90 degrees while our greater MN friends saw the temp climb to 98 degrees (F) in Beardsley.  If you like change, note the 114 degrees (F) difference between the low and high temperatures.  Only in MN and very few other places. 

   


PHENOLOGY:         Unusual weather gave us different observations of plants and critters.      Here it is the end of October and all our Mountain Ash trees are still full of their bright orange berries along with more berries on the two American Cranberry bushes.   Not only have the robins been in short supply but the congregated flocks of them did not get to the north end of Little Rock Lake.   Friends in different locations had these flocks of forty plus birds come through and clean off lots’ of berries.  Not so here.  Nor were the Cedar Wax Wings who usually visit too.  Dr. Ray Merritt had visits from both species on the 13th.  They devoured his berries.  Fred Segler had a large group of Robins come thru too but they forgot to head east to Little Rock Lake.  My wife Jan observed our first Rose-breasted Grosbeak on the12th.   Such a beautiful bird with its large patch of bright red on its breast.   While on the subject of birds, the start of the winter migration of birds heading south from colder climates has started.   Junco’s are here in fair numbers.  I had to chuckle when Dr. Merritt proudly announced at coffee that his first Junco arrived mid-month.  I think his house was the last on their list of places to go as most of us had Junco visits for a couple of weeks.

          One of our chipmunks was busy gathering seeds as late as the 14th.  At mid-month the pocket gophers were very busy at Benton Beach Park.  Squirrels (plentiful this summer) are still in short supply.   The tree rats (as some locals refer to them) have been reduced to only one.  This does not break my heart.  The massive raids on the bird feeders are now almost nonexistent.  Locals guess that either an owl or hawk may be the culprit.

          The summer plants are history.  Only the Johnnie Jump Ups and Monkshood are still in bloom.   Parsley, Chives and a couple of other green things are all that is left of growing flowers/plants.   Fall colors were not what they were last year.  Due, I’m sure, to the winterish weather mid-month.  Maple and oak colors did not last long.  

          A few thoughts:   Any guesses as to when Little Rock Lake will completely freeze over?   It usually happens in December but November is not out of the picture.  Getting ready for winter means getting docks out of the lake.  There are only a couple left in the water.  The first dock left the lake on the 3rd when Chies’ pulled theirs in.    There could be some cold folks doing docks this late.

 

NOVEMBER ISSUES:      Look for the term “wind chill” to become part of our weather information.  It’s time to think about putting your winter weather survival kit in the car.   Keep your cell phone with you.   If you choose not to purchase one, a non-activated one will still work on 9-1-1.  Some mound sewer systems may require straw for additional insulation.