NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY
OCTOBER 2019

1-5: Great Falls, MT, received 17.7 inches of snow in a 24-hour period on September 28-29 and reported a 2-day storm total of 19.3 inches. Previously, Great Falls’ snowiest 24-hour period occurred on April 20, 1973, when 16.8 inches fell. Unofficial
storm totals in Montana reached 52 inches in Babb and 48 inches in Browning. Elsewhere in Montana, it was the snowiest September on record in Cut Bank (20.0 inches, estimated), Great Falls (19.3 inches), Havre (10.5 inches), and Missoula (1.7 inches).
With a 3.3-inch total on September 28-29, Spokane, WA, also completed its snowiest September. Heavy precipitation extended into the Intermountain West, where Trenton, UT, experienced its wettest day on record (2.55 inches on September 29; previously, 2.
40 inches on August 18, 1977). Farther east, multiple rounds of heavy rain drenched the upper Midwest. Record-setting rainfall totals for September 29 included 3.30 inches in Springfield, IL, and 1.24 inches in Grand Forks, ND. On the last day of
September, daily record amounts in the Great Lakes region reached 3.00 inches in Sault Sainte Marie, MI; 2.19 inches in Brainerd, MN; and 2.06 inches in Ashland, WI. In early October, heavy rain extended southwestward across the Plains. Record-setting
rainfall totals for October 1 included 3.59 inches in Des Moines, IA; 3.44 inches in Roswell, NM; 2.83 inches in Lincoln, NE; 2.76 inches in Oshkosh, WI; and 2.08 inches in Amarillo, TX. For Roswell, where September 30 – October 4 rainfall totaled 5.
36 inches, it was the second-wettest October day on record. During the first 5 days of October, rainfall topped 5 inches in locations such as Dubuque, IA (5.40 inches), and Amarillo, TX (5.38 inches). At week’s end, another heavy-rain event unfolded
across the upper Midwest, where daily-record totals for October 5 included 1.61 inches in Waterloo, IA, and 1.38 inches in Rochester, MN. Rochester has already set an annual precipitation record, with 48.74 inches (173 percent of normal) through October
5; previously, the standard was 43.94 inches in 1990.

6-12: An early-season snow storm struck portions of the northern Plains and far upper Midwest, starting on October 8 and continuing for several days. showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain, locally 2 to 4 inches or more, from the southeastern
Plains into the Tennessee and middle Ohio Valleys.
Early-week showers swept from the mid-South to the central Appalachians. Record-setting rainfall totals for October 6 topped the 3inch mark in locations such as Fayetteville, AR (3.95 amounts for October 7 reached 1.90 inches in Huntington and 1.89
inches in Charleston. Florida also experienced local downpours, with Daytona Beach reporting 5.57 inches—a record for the date—on October 9. Daytona Beach also netted 9.37 inches of rain from October 6-10. Farther north, the list of weather
stations setting annual precipitation records continued to grow. Through October 13, year-todate precipitation reached 49.41 inches (172 percent of normal) in Rochester, MN, and 41.63 inches (170 percent) in Green Bay, WI. Previous annual records had
been 43.94 inches in 1990 and 39.21 inches in 2018, respectively. On October 8-9, snow fell across the northern High Plains and parts of the Northwest, with event totals reaching 7.7 inches in Great Falls, MT, and 3.6 inches in Spokane, WA. Elsewhere
in Montana, Billings received a daily-record snowfall of 5.6 inches on October 9. Farther east, in the Dakotas and western Minnesota, snow generally developed on October 10 and persisted into October 13. Fourday snowfall totals in North Dakota included
17.1 inches in Bismarck, 7.1 inches in Grand Forks, and 4.5 inches in Fargo. On October 11, wind gusts were clocked to 53 mph in Bismarck and 52 mph in Fargo. Snowfall totals of 1 to 3 feet were common across the eastern two-thirds of North Dakota,
with some of the highest amounts noted from the community of Harvey northward to the Canadian border. In South Dakota, storm-total (October 10-12) snowfall exceeded 5 inches and wind gusts topped 50 mph in locations such as Mobridge (5.6 inches; peak
gust to 57 mph) and Pierre (5.3 inches; peak gust to 53 mph).
Hot weather lingered early in the week across the South. In San Angelo, TX, a record-setting streak of 115 consecutive days (June 14 – October 6) with a high of 90°F or greater finally ended; the previous record of 88 days in a row had been set in
2011.

13-19: Meanwhile, drought-easing rain fell across the South and East, both before and during the passage of post-tropical cyclone Nestor. A former tropical storm, Nestor reached Florida’s Gulf Coast on October 19.
Snow finally ended on October 13 across the northern Plains and far upper Midwest. Bismarck, ND, received 0.2 inch on October 13 to boost its 4-day snowfall to 17.1 inches. A few days later, heavy rain erupted across the South. Record setting rainfall
totals for October 15 reached 4.90 inches in El Dorado, AR, and 4.32 inches in Jackson, MS. Heavy rain also fell on October 15 in parts of the upper Great Lakes region, where Marquette, MI, received a record-setting sum
(1.76 inches) for October 15. At mid-week, heavy showers swept into the East. On October 16, daily-record amounts topped the 2-inch mark in Allentown, PA (2.33 inches), and Newark, NJ (2.13 inches). Farther west, however, St. George, UT, set an all-
time record of 122 consecutive days (June 18 – October 17) without measurable rain; the previous standard of 121 days had been set in 1930. At week’s end, separate storm systems moved into the Northwest and Southeast. In Washington, record-setting
rainfall totals for October 19 included 1.19 inches in Pullman and 0.63 inch in Walla Walla. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nestor (and its post-tropical remnants) delivered October 19 totals of 3.91 inches in Daytona Beach, FL, and 2.20 inches in Macon, GA;
both totals were records for the date. Wind gusts in Florida on the 19th were clocked to 45 mph in Clearwater; 43 mph in Sarasota-Bradenton; and 37 mph in Tampa and Apalachicola.

20-26: Dry, breezy weather accompanied California’s warmth, leading to an elevated wildfire threat. In Sonoma County, CA, the Kincade Fire was reported on October 23 and within 5 days had charred more than 66,000 acres of vegetation and had destroyed
nearly 100 structures. Several smaller fires affected other parts of California. Farther east, however, heavy rain fell in conjunction with the interaction between Tropical Storm Olga and a cold front. Olga, a short-lived system that became a post-
tropical storm before arriving along the central Gulf coast, contributed to rainfall totals that reached 2 to 4 inches or more in the Tennessee Valley and lower half of the Mississippi Valley, slowing fieldwork and soaking cotton that had not yet been
harvested. The remainder of the eastern half of the country received light to moderately heavy rainfall. . In the upper Midwest, however, precipitation maintained a sluggish pace of corn and soybean harvesting. Elsewhere, an early-season snowfall
affected Texas’ northern panhandle on October 24, while two rounds of heavy rain—totaling 4 inches or more in many locations—soaked the southeastern Plains. In the latter region, early-week thunderstorms resulted in local wind, hail, and tornado
damage.
On October 20, a severe weather outbreak spawned more than two dozen tornadoes from northeastern Texas into the mid-South. In Dallas County, TX, an EF-3 tornado (winds estimated near 140 mph) carved a path nearly 16 miles in length during a 32-minute
span from near Irving to just east of Richardson. Meanwhile, high winds developed in parts of the West, where gusts on the 20th were clocked to 74 mph in Buffalo, WY, and 77 mph on southern California’s Whitaker Peak. The following day, high winds
swept across the northern and central Plains and Midwest; peak gusts on October 21 reached 67 mph in North Platte, NE, and 65 mph in Hill City, KS. On the 22nd in Montana, the Bozeman Airport experienced a wind gust to 59 mph—a record for October (
previously, 58 mph on October 13, 1973). It was also Bozeman’s highest wind since April 4, 2016, when a gust to 65 mph was recorded. High winds returned to several areas late in the week in conjunction with the departure of the storm system that
absorbed former Tropical Storm Olga. On October 25, a gust to 89 mph was reported in southern California, on Big Black Mountain. Farther east, the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans clocked a gust to 66 mph on the morning of October 26.
As the week began, heavy rain fell along the Atlantic Seaboard. Record setting rainfall totals in Virginia for October 20 reached 4.60 inches at Wallops Island and 2.32 inches in Danville. Meanwhile, a slow-moving storm soaked the north-central U.S.
Daily-record totals on the 20th included 1.20 inches in Bismarck, ND, and 1.08 inches in Mobridge, SD. Mobridge reported another daily-record sum (0.93 inch) on October 21. Other record-setting Midwestern amounts for the 21st totaled 1.71 inches in
Sisseton, SD; 1.62 inches in Eau Claire, WI; and 1.32 inches in St. Cloud, MN. Rain extended southward across the lower Ohio Valley to the Gulf Coast; record-setting totals for October 21 were set in locations such as Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX (1.85
inches); Evansville, IN (1.72 inches); and Cape Girardeau, MO (1.34 inches). Evansville (2.26 inches) and Cape Girardeau (3.87 inches) set daily records again on the 26th; for the latter location, it was also the wettest October day on record (
previously, 3.16 inches on October 20, 1984). By October 23, rain swept across New England, where daily-record totals in Maine reached 1.74 inches in Portland and 1.70 inches in Caribou. On October 24, heavy snow fell in parts of northern Texas, where
totals included 6.5 inches in Borger and 5.5 inches in Amarillo. Toward week’s end, heavy rain returned across the South and spread into the Midwest. Record setting amounts for October 25 totaled to 6.48 inches in Tuscaloosa, AL, and 4.77 inches in
Meridian, MS. The following day, record-breaking totals for the 26th topped 2 inches in locations such as Memphis, TN (3.01 inches); Paducah, KY (2.60 inches); Jonesboro, AR (2.17 inches); and Lincoln, IL (2.15 inches).

27-31: In advance of the blast of cold air, moisture surged northward across the eastern half of the country. Weekly precipitation totaled an inch or more in many areas along and east of a line from eastern Texas to Lower Michigan, eradicating or
further easing drought conditions. As the cold air interacted with the moisture, snow blanketed areas from central sections of the Rockies and Plains into Michigan. Most other areas, including large sections of the West and upper Midwest, received
little or no precipitation.
For much of the week, high winds continued to rake parts of California. Just west of Lake Tahoe, a wind gust to 107 mph was clocked on October 27 near Alpine Meadows, CA. On the same date, a gust to 66 mph was reported in Redding, CA. Later in
southern California, a wind gust to 73 mph was reported in Fremont Canyon on the morning of October 30. Meanwhile, patchy snow fell early in the week across the Plains and Midwest. In Colorado, record-setting snowfall amounts for October 28 included 5.
5 inches in Colorado Springs and 3.8 inches in Pueblo. On the same date, 1.2 inches of snow fell in Green Bay, WI, and Des Moines, IA. Near the East Coast, daily-record rainfall totals for the 28th reached 2.12 inches in Bridgeport, CT, and 1.56 inches
in Reading, PA. A stronger storm affected the central and eastern U.S. on October 30-31. Record-breaking rainfall amounts for the 30th reached 3.28 inches in Jackson, MS, and 2.83 inches in Birmingham, AL. It was the wettest Halloween on record in
numerous Eastern locations, including Burlington, VT (3.30 inches); Harrisburg, PA (2.63 inches); and Syracuse, NY (1.95 inches). For Burlington, it was the wettest October day since October 6, 1932, when 4.19 inches fell. Very early on November 1,
wind gusts reached 70 mph at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA, and 62 mph at Niagara Falls, NY. Meanwhile, 8.1 inches of snow fell in Madison, WI, during the last 4 days of the month, securing its snowiest October on record (previously, 5.2
inches in 1917). Four inches of Madison’s snow fell on the 31st. Peoria, IL, also reported its snowiest October, with 3.9 inches of the 4.2-inch monthly total occurring on the 31st. Elsewhere in Illinois, Chicago received 4.6 inches of snow on
October 30-31. Daily-record amounts for October 31 included 5.4 inches in Milwaukee, WI; 4.4 inches in Houghton Lake, MI; 2.0 inches in Lincoln, IL; and 1.9 inches in Green Bay, WI. With the late-month storminess, October precipitation records were
established in Southern and Midwestern locations such as Jackson, MS (14.66 inches; previously, 10.58 inches in 1918); Memphis, TN (12.95 inches; previously, 10.56 inches in 2009); and Des Moines, IA (7.41 inches; previously, 7.29 inches in 1941).

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