October’s wacky extremes: Texas sees snow before Alaska, Record cold Northern Plains, Record warm East

Written by on October 19, 2018 in United States of America with 0 Comments

Winter is creeping ever closer and nature has been really weird this October in it’s distribution of cold and arrival of it’s first snows. While many parts of Alaska patiently await their first snow, parts of Texas have already seen the white stuff.

Alaska sweats while Texas shivers!

Tropical Tidbits

After the warmest September on record for much of western Alaska, parts of the state remain exceptionally mild and snowless through mid October.

An unusually persistent ridge has led to this unusual warmth for Alaska.

In stark contrast, it was a top 10 coldest September and it’s been the coldest first half to October on record for Regina, Winnipeg and parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota.

What a variation of extremes through October’s first 15 days…

Warmest for most of Alaska, coldest for parts of North Dakota, warmest for Gulf Coast Texas as much of the East.

A southward punch of arctic air making it all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, several cities witnessed their coldest temperatures for so early in the season.

Coolwx

While Fairbanks awaits their first snow (average 1st snow is Sept 27), Wichita and Kansas City, MO have been observed their earliest snow since records began in the late 1800s.

Despite a snowless Alaska and record warm east, we’re looking at the greatest snow cover extent across North America for the time of year in at least 13 years.

weather.com

A high of 49 in Dallas was the earliest sub-50 high by a full week, surpassing Oct 22, 1936.

According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, the past few days have been as cold as any on record for the time of year from the Montana-South Dakota border to South Texas.

While record cold in West Texas, it was record warm in Florida.

Weatherbell

First snows…

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