November 2019 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Average November Precipitation Pushes Fall to Third Wettest, 2019 to Second Wettest

The precipitation fell at a slower rate in November, but enough fell to allow 2019 to continue to climb the precipitation ladder. A total of 1.51 inch fell during November, 0.13 inch above average. That was enough to push the meteorological fall precipitation total to 12.90 inches, making the fall of 2019 the 3rd wettest fall in St. Cloud records. The additional rainfall pushed the 2019 total to 40.24 inches, climbing past 1965 into 2nd place among the wettest calendar years. Only 1897 with 41.01 inches had more. St. Cloud is merely 0.77 inch away. An average December (0.82 inch) would break the record.

There was one day with at least a quarter of an inch of precipitation in November, pushing the annual total to 45 days. That's tied for the 3rd most quarter-inch days on record. There were 3 days with at least one tenth of an inch in November, running the 2019 total to 72 days. That ranks as the 4th highest number of days in St. Cloud records.

The largest precipitation day was on November 30 when 0.47 inch fell. This broke the November 30 record for daily precipitation. The old record was 0.37 inch, set in 2015.

Slowing of Precipitation Result of Canadian Flow Pattern

The more average precipitation, and the reduced amount from previous months was the result of a generally colder and drier weather pattern. Early in the month, the steering winds turned to a more northwest-to-southeast direction. This colder pattern produced a pair of highs in the teens, including the record cold November 11 high of 16 degrees and the first low of zero or colder on November 10.

Busy Thanksgiving Week

The colder weather pattern allowed much of the precipitation received in November to fall in the form of snow. However, the bulk of the snow (11.3 of the 11.8 inches) as well as the majority of the precipitation (0.86 inch of the 1.51 inch total) fell during the Thanksgiving week. This was caused by a series of strong storms moving from off California and Baja California through the Southern and Central Rockiest and into the Central US. Storms that take more of a southwest-to-northeast path often have access to more moisture from the southern US and possibly from off the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm of November 26 and 27 produced 6.5 inches of snow in St. Cloud and more to the south and east. And, the last two days of the month were dominated by a major snowstorm that clobbered the entire US and generally produced a foot or more of snow from Fergus Falls through Brainerd into Duluth and the North Shore with 20 inches common in Duluth and northeastward.

The 11.8 inches of snow in November was nearly 3 inches above average. In early December, St. Cloud was running more than two inches above average. Since so much of the 2018-2019 seasonal snowfall happened in the late winter and spring (3rd in February-April snowfall), the calendar year of 2019 has accumulated a total of 66.3 inches of snow. This ranks 11th among the snowiest calendar years.

Cold Start Leads to Below Average Temperatures

The early month cold (no high temperature of 40 degrees between November 4 and 15) did moderate a bit during the last 16 days of the month (only one day colder than average). However, this still produced an average November temperature of 27.9 degrees, 2.5 degrees colder than average. Since there were no 50-degree highs in November, October 26 could stand as the latest 50 degree high of this year. That would tie 1995 for the earliest occurrence of the last 50-degree reading in the past 24 years. The earliest end to 50 degrees in St. Cloud records happened in 1986 when the last 50-degree high occurred on October 8. If this year's date of October 26 holds up, it would be among the 10 percent of earliest occurrences of the final 50-degree high.

The meteorological fall had an average temperature of 44.2 degrees, slightly less than the average (44.9 degrees).