U.S. National Overview - October 2005

October:

• October temperatures were warmer than average overall for the nation with no state or climate division falling in the below average category. For information on temperature records during the month, please go to NCDC's Extremes page.
• Precipitation distribution was very mixed across the nation with below average rainfall for parts of the country, especially the Lower Mississippi Valley, and record wet conditions in the Northeast. For more information on drought during October, please visit the U.S. Drought page.

• Indices used to determine the state of ENSO suggest that the Equatorial Pacific was in ENSO neutral conditions during October, having transitioned from a weak warm phase (El Niño) earlier in the year. Sea Surface Temperatures were near normal across the equatorial Pacific during October. To see the latest NOAA advisory and typical impacts of a La Niña or El Niño episode for the U.S., go to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

• October 2005 ranked as the 17th warmest October in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 56.2°F (13.4°C), which was 1.4°F (0.8°C) above the long-term mean.
• October 2005 had near average precipitation, nationally, ranking 42nd wettest.
• For the last 3 months temperature was much above average and ranked as the 6th warmest such period in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature for August-October was 66.0°F (18.9°C) which was 1.6°F (0.9°C) above the long-term mean.
• August-October had near average precipitation, ranking 53rd driest in the last 111 years.
• The November 2004-October 2005 temperature was much above average and ranked as the 7th warmest such period in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 54.1°F (12.3°C) which was 1.3°F (0.7°C) above the long-term mean.
• Precipitation was above average for November-October, ranking 32nd wettest for the last 12 months based on a record of 110 such periods.

• October 2005 temperatures ranked above average for 33 states including New Hampshire, which was much warmer than average for October.
• Alaska temperatures were above average ranking 26th warmest out of 88 years of statewide records, with an anomaly of 3.1°F (1.7°C) above the 1971-2000 mean
• October was much drier than average for 6 states, including 3 states (LA, AR, MS), which had their second driest October on record. October was record wet for 9 northeastern states.
  
• The 3 month period, August-October, was warmer than average for every state in the contiguous U.S., with 30 states much warmer than average, including 2 states (NJ and RI) that were record warm for the period.
• August-October 2005 was much wetter than average for 8 states including 3 (NH, VT and ME), that were record wet for the 3 months.
• November 2004-October 2005 was warmer than average for much of the nation, while only 6 states in the contiguous U.S. were near average.
• The last 12 months had a mixed precipitation pattern across the country with 11 states much wetter than average including New Hampshire, which was record wet for the last 12 months.

  See NCDC's Monthly Extremes web-page for weather and climate records for the month of October.