NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY
OCTOBER 2018
1-6: Heavy rain returned to the upper Midwest, sparking another round of lowland flooding. Weekly totals topped 4 inches at several locations in southern Wisconsin and portions of neighboring states. At week’s end, rainfall further expanded and
intensified from the southern Plains into the upper Midwest. Farther west, a complex weather pattern featuring multiple cold fronts and tropical moisture associated with the remnants of Hurricane Rosa contributed to widespread showers. Rainfall was
particularly heavy in Arizona, where isolated 2- to 4-inch totals occurred on October 1-2. As October began, another round of heavy rain erupted across the upper Midwest. Daily-record totals for October 1 topped 2 inches in Madison, WI (2.05 inches),
and Waterloo, IA (2.03 inches). Heavy rain spread into the Northeast on October 2, when Bridgeport, CT, measured a daily-record total of 2.82 inches. Elsewhere in early October, the remnants of Hurricane Rosa dumped heavy rain in Arizona. With a 2.36-
inch total on the 2nd, Phoenix, AZ, experienced its wettest October day on record (previously, 2.32 inches on October 14, 1988). Other daily-record totals in Arizona for October 2 included 2.30 inches in Flagstaff and 0.39 inch in Yuma. The following
day, Kingman, AZ, collected a record-setting total (1.03 inches) for September 3. Meanwhile, showers unrelated to Rosa affected other parts of the West. In California, Salinas reported a daily-record sum (0.67 inch) for October 3. Western
precipitation spread farther inland on October 3-4, when Duchesne, UT, netted 1.03 inches in a 24hour period. Toward week’s end, heavy rain returned to the nation’s mid-section, including parts of the Plains and Midwest. Peoria, IL, posted a daily-
record total (1.76 inches) on October 5—the start of a 3-day period during which 3.76 inches fell. Similarly, Dodge City, KS, endured 5.94 inches from October 6-9, including a daily-record sum of 2.38 inches on the 7th.

7-13: Michael slammed into the Florida coast near Panama City on October 10 as a high-end Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, causing catastrophic devastation due to wind and storm surge. Since the mid-19th century, that
portion of the Gulf Coast—stretching from southern Alabama to the panhandle of Florida, had never experienced a hurricane of that magnitude (stronger than Category 3). Significant wind damage to buildings, trees, and crops extended far inland across
western Florida, southeastern Alabama, and southwestern Georgia. Many other areas of the Southeast, reaching as far north as the southern Mid-Atlantic region, noted tropical storm-force winds (39 mph or greater) and briefly heavy rain that sparked flash
floods. Blocked roads, communication disruptions, infrastructural losses, and power outages complicated recovery efforts, especially in the hardest-hit areas of western Florida and environs. By definition of central pressure, Hurricane Michael was the
third most intense storm to strike the U.S. mainland, behind the Florida Keys’ Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Michael’s barometric pressure at landfall, 27.14 inches (919 millibars), compared to 26.34 inches (892
millibars) for the 1935 hurricane and 26.58 inches (900 millibars) for Camille. Michael, which moved inland on October 10 near Mexico Beach, FL, around 12:30 pm CDT, resulted in a minimum barometric pressure of 27.24 inches (922.4 millibars) in Panama
City, FL. The previous record in that location had been 28.91 inches (979.1 millibars) with Hurricane Kate on November 21, 1985. A wind gust to 129 mph was clocked at Tyndall Air Force Base, FL, shortly before landfall—and before the equipment failed.
Instrumentation also did not withstand the storm in Apalachicola, FL, where a gust to 89 mph was recorded. Meanwhile, a Gulf of Mexico tide gauge in Apalachicola achieved a record-high water level, based on preliminary data, surpassing the high-water
mark set during Hurricane Dennis on July 10, 2005. Farther inland and later on the 10th, peak wind gusts included 71 mph in Tallahassee, FL, and 63 mph in Eastman, GA. The following day in the Atlantic Coast States, peak gusts reached 61 mph in Dublin,
GA, and Rocky Mount-Wilson, NC. In Georgia, record-setting rainfall totals for October 10 included 3.26 inches in Columbus and 3.22 inches in Macon. October 11 was the wettest day on record in Danville, VA, where 6.00 inches fell (previously 5.81
inches with Tropical Storm Fay on August 27, 2008). In addition, it was the wettest October day in Salisbury, MD, where rainfall totaled 6.56 inches (previously, 5.80 inches with Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012). Record-setting totals for October
11 topped 4 inches in locations such as Columbia, SC (4.45 inches), and Greensboro, NC (4.13 inches).
Farther west, the week began with heavy rain continuing across the nation’s mid-section. From October 7-9, rainfall in Kansas totaled 5.46 inches in Dodge City and 4.31 inches in Wichita. Daily-record totals topped the 2-inch mark in locations such
as Borger, TX (2.20 inches on October 8); Lincoln, IL (2.12 inches on October 7); and Columbia, MO (2.08 inches on October 7). Meanwhile in Utah, 24-hour precipitation totals topped an inch on October 7-8 in Fillmore (1.05 inches) and Hanksville (1.02
inches). Meanwhile, another major storm dumped heavy precipitation (2 to 6 inches) across large sections of the Plains and upper Midwest, leading to fieldwork stoppages and lowland flooding.
In the Northwest, record-setting amounts for October 9 reached 2.08 inches in Meacham, OR, and 0.95 inch in Boise, ID. Heavy rain also erupted on the 9th in parts of Texas, where dailyrecord totals included 3.66 inches in Del Rio and 2.71 inches in
Abilene. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, achieved daily-record totals (2.27 and 2.20 inches, respectively) on October 9 and 13. By the 10th, heavy rain in the Great Lakes region led to the wettest October day in Sault Sainte Marie, MI, where 3.20 inches fell.
The previous record in that location, 2.24 inches, had been set on October 18, 1923, and October 14, 2014. Elsewhere, an early-season snowfall blanketed parts of the north-central U.S. on October 10, when daily-record totals included 5.7 inches at the
National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, ND; 4.0 inches at Montana’s Holter Dam; and 2.2 inches in Aberdeen, SD. Snow returned to northern sections of the Rockies and High Plains on October 13, when Holter Dam—with 3.0 inches—netted another
daily-record sum. Other daily-record snowfall totals for the 13th reached 3.5 inches in Casper, WY, and 2.0 inches in East Rapid City, SD.

14-20: For the second week in a row, heavy rain soaked parts of the south-central U.S. Weekly rainfall totaled 4 to 8 inches or more in central Texas and environs, resulting in local flooding and fieldwork stoppages. Periods of locally heavy rain
extended northeastward through the mid-South, Tennessee Valley, and central Appalachians. In mid-October, remnant moisture associated with former Hurricane Sergio drenched parts of Texas, where record-setting rainfall totals for the 15th included 4.75
inches in Lufkin; 2.93 inches in Dallas Fort Worth (DFW); 2.72 inches in College Station; and 2.63 inches in Del Rio. DFW’s September 1 – October 20 rainfall climbed to 24.99 inches (487 percent of normal), ensuring a record-wet autumn. DFW’s
previous record for September-November precipitation was set in 2015, when 21.82 inches fell. In a 48-hour period from October 14-16, Texas rainfall topped a foot in portions of Burnet, Gillespie, and Llano Counties. In the Colorado River Basin, the
level of Lake Travis, TX, crested at 19.39 feet above flood stage on October 20. It was the highest level for Lake Travis since July 1997, and the fifth-highest level since impoundment in the early 1940s. Torrential rain also spread to parts of
neighboring states, with New Iberia, LA, netting a daily-record sum of 5.20 inches on October 16. Heavy rain lingered for several days across central Texas, where San Angelo measured a daily-record total (3.25 inches) on the 17th and reported a 7-day (
October 13-19) sum of 8.33 inches. Farther north, October 14 featured an unusually early snowfall. With 1.6 inches on the 14th, Rochester, MN, experienced its earliest-ever snowfall of at least an inch (previously, 2.0 inches on October 15, 1969). The
earliest measurable snowfall on record occurred on October 14 in locations such as Wichita, KS (0.3 inch), and Kansas City, MO (0.2 inch). Daily-record snowfall totals on the 14th reached 3.5 inches in Lincoln, NE, and 2.8 inches in Sioux Falls, SD.
Meanwhile, high winds developed across southern California, where a gust to 82 mph was clocked in Fremont Canyon on October 15. By week’s end, high winds in the wake of a cold front’s passage swept across the northern Plains and Midwest; gusts on
October 20 included 61 mph in Rockford, IL, and Indianapolis, IN.

21-27: Late-week showers brought some renewed fieldwork delays. Late-week showers also increased in coverage and intensity from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Rockies. Although the heaviest precipitation fell in coastal and mountain locations.
Moisture associated with the remnants of Hurricane Willa contributed to another round of rain in the south-central U.S. As a result, lowland flooding persisted in parts of the western Gulf Coast region. At week’s end, a coastal storm delivered heavy
rain and gusty winds to the middle and northern Atlantic States, while some interior Northeastern locations received snow. Category 3 Hurricane Willa made landfall near Isla Del Bosque, Sinaloa, Mexico, during the evening of October 23. Subsequently,
the hurricane rapidly weakened and dissipated across the rugged terrain of northern Mexico, although remnant moisture was drawn northeastward in advance of an approaching storm system. On the 23rd, Douglas, AZ, netted a daily-record rainfall of 1.16
inches. The following day in Texas, Galveston measured a record setting sum (4.90 inches) for October 24. It was Galveston’s wettest October day since October 25, 2015, when 4.94 inches fell. For many locations in Texas, including Abilene (11.31
inches) and San Angelo (10.68 inches), October rainfall records have been set. Abilene and San Angelo also received significant rain—1.50 and 1.19 inches, respectively—on October 24. In New Mexico, October 23-24 rainfall totaled 1.79 inches in
Roswell and 1.36 inches in Albuquerque. Heavy rain developed in the Mid-Atlantic States by October 26, when daily-record totals in North Carolina reached 2.55 inches in Greensboro and 2.07 inches in Charlotte. Northeastern record-setting totals for
October 27 included 1.70 inches in Atlantic City, NJ, and 1.50 inches in Islip, NY. Also on the 27th, Atlantic City clocked a peak wind gust to 52 mph. Caribou, ME, received snowfall totaling 0.9 inch on October 27-28, following a daily-record total of
2.6 inches on October 24. Farther west, strong winds swept across the northern Plains on October 27, when gusts were clocked to 54 mph in North Dakota locations such as Dickinson and Hettinger. At the same time, increasingly showery weather in the
Northwest resulted in a daily-record sum (0.44 inch) in Wenatchee, WA. In fact, Wenatchee received 0.85 inch from October 25-28, easily exceeding the total of 0.49 inch observed during the preceding 159 days from May 19 – October 24.

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