OCTOBER, 2007 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY IN REVIEW

From the North Shore of Little Rock Lake

Jim Hovda, Rice, MN 56367-0265 jhovda.rice@juno.com

CAPSULE OF LAST OCTOBER:        A lot colder and dryer.   The average temps on both the low and high were about eight degrees colder.  L: 31.85 and the H: 51.61 compared to 38.91 & 59.48 degrees this year.   Last year was below the norm.  On the precipitation side of the house, last Oct we only had .8" for the entire month compared to 6.64" this year.  And, we had SNOW flurries on four days.  We ended the month with no snow on the ground.   Total rainfall for the year stood at 21.7".   It was the driest Oct since 1978.

WEATHER:        Temp-wise, a normal month.  On the low side of things, we only had four days with below freezing temps.  (27 - 30)  The low temp for the month occurred on the 28th with a 22.1 degree reading.   Most of the low readings were in the 40's.    Warm temps for the month were in the 50's & 60's with the high reading for the month 80.9 degrees on the 7th.    In the moisture department - lots of rain.  Badly needed rain for all the green things, especially the trees that were in severe stress.  Even with the 6.04" for the month, none of the local creeks saw any raise.  Everything soaked in.  It was wonderful.   We had seventeen days with precipitation.   Six days with almost one half inch or more spread out through out the month.  The most rain fell on the 8th when 2.07" hit the ground.  It rained every day from the 1st to the 12th except for two days.   We brought our total rainfall for the year from 17.1" to 23.14".  We still need more precipitation to bring us up to the norm.   Lots of snow in November or December would be really welcome.   

WEATHER RECORDS:        No local records were set.    The warmest temp in the St. Cloud area was a 90 degree reading in 1953 while the greater MN temp of 98 degrees was recorded in Beardsley in 1931.  On the cool side of things our cold day in Oct occurred in 1953 when the temp dropped to +2 degrees in the St. Cloud area while out-state MN recorded a -16 degree reading in 1936 at Roseau.   Yes, it can get really cold.   How many of you remember the Halloween storm of 1991???   That was a doozie! 

       By the middle of the month I thought we were going to set a rainfall record.  Not to be.  Our monthly total of 6.04" fell short of the record I have of 8.22" that occurred in 2005.  The most rain that fell in a single day also occurred in 2005 on the 5th when 7.33" fell in the Rice area.    I remember that event that filled the local creeks to overflowing.   SNOWFALL of 6.0" in 1995 was the record for local snowfall for any October.  We are in a season of weather transition.

PHENOLOGY:        Lots of different things, so I'll start at the beginning of the month and go from there.   On the 4th a Clouded Sulphur butterfly, on the 5th the invasion of the Japanese Beetles started.   They were a real pain in the rump this year until I sprayed some areas that I thought were their entry point to the house.    On the 7th Jim Larson pulled in his boat lift (the first one) and on the 9th WCCO news reported the close of the West Nile season with two deaths in MN reported.  On the 10th the ash trees were bare due to a strong NW wind.  The 12th saw the return of the Pileated Woodpeckers to newly placed suet and I noticed Juncos in some numbers.   On the 21st some stubborn flowers were still blooming:  One Cone Flower and several Pansies.  The 22nd saw the Maple leaves falling like rain and the Popples were a bright yellow.    Standing on our deck at night on the 23rd the "hooting" of the Great Horned Owl to the east in the swamp land was very clear with another one "hooting" back.   Will our numbers of bunnies decline? They best pay attention to what is happening above...    On the 28th temps in the 20's caused the bird bath to completely freeze over and Jan and I noted one lonely Monarch Butterfly.  It looked lost!!!   On the 28th the last of the mass dock/boat lift removal from the lake took place.   My several parsley plants have never looked better along with the chives.  Pansies and Monks Hood and three Roses were blooming.    On the 21st the wind switched to the north making it jacket weather to close out the month. 

BIRD INFO:        Time to clean out feeders that may have old wet seeds in the bottom and get the suet feeders out.  Do they need cleaning?   I've noted that price of sunflower seeds has gone UP...

WATER FACT:        Ground water can move as fast as 50 feet a day or as slow as 50 feet in 500 years, depending upon the material it flows through.  Once groundwater is contaminated, it is extremely difficult to clean up, if not impossible.   MN Weatherguide Calendar October, 2007.