November 2021 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Seasonable Fall Rainfall Continues First Half of November

The headlines for the fall (meteorological fall is Sept 1-Nov 30) have been at least a return to seasonal average rainfall with much of western and northern Minnesota seeing more than 8 inches of precipitation (see 90-day Minnesota precipitation total from NWS), which was more than 2-4 inches above average (see 90-day Minnesota departure from average precipitation map from NWS). The St. Cloud Regional Airport only ended up within half an inch of average for the fall (7.49 inches actual, 6.99 inches average).

But Persistent Warmth Produces 8th Warmest Fall in St. Cloud

However, the other story of this fall was the roller coaster temperature variation with a few incidents of 30-50 degree temperature swings over a 3-4 day period. This continued in November, most notably between a low of 23 on the 4th to a high of 67 on the 6th. Following this warmth, the low on the 8th was 28 degrees. Similarly, the low on the 19th was 15 degrees, while the high on the on the 23rd was 53 degrees. Note from this monthly temperature graph that most highs were at or above average (either along the border of the green and pink or into the pink). That was also true of the lows (only 5 low temperatures, bottom of the blue bar, were at or cooler than average, junction of the green with the light blue).

This added up to a third straight month of above average temperatures. The St. Cloud Regional Airport average temperature for November was 34.0 degrees, 3.1 degrees warmer than average. For the entire fall, St. Cloud had an average temperature of 49.5 degrees, 4.1 degrees warmer than average. That made 2021 the 8th warmest fall in St. Cloud records, joining 2015 and 2016 in the top 8.

Flow from Lee of Rockies Caused the Primarily Mild Conditions

The generally warm conditions were a result of the basic pattern, featuring a stormy northern and central Pacific Coast, and air flow from off either Canadian or the US Rockies moving frequently into Minnesota. There were a few outbreaks of air from north central Canada, one of which occurred on Thanksgiving Day and another on the 22nd, but these were few and far between.

The flow of generally dry air meant precipitation was quite sparse after the relatively wet storm of November 10-13, which produced 0.84 inch of the 0.87 inch November total and 1.7 inches of snow in St. Cloud, with some areas of northern and central Minnesota receiving more than 5 inches. The weather pattern went completely dry for the Northern Plains after that system with only 0.03 inch of precipitation over the last 17 days.

Heaviest Rain and Snow Along the Central and Northern Pacific Coasts

Northeastern Minnesota did see heavier precipitation (over 2 inches, yellow on the US November precipitation map). The main precipitation issue over the Continental US and environs was the intense rainfall along the Pacific Northwest, with more than 8 inches of rain from the northern Calfornia coast into Washington state, where some areas received over 20 inches (gray). A secondary area of heavy precipitation was in northern and central Idaho with over 8 inches, much of it falling as snow. The heavy rainfall caused several landslides, producing washouts of railroads and roads that separated Vancouver from much of the rest of Canada

The total snowfall was only 2.1 inches inches, a far cry from the 15.8 inches of snow received by the end of November of last year. That included the 2 largest snowfalls of the entire 2020-2021 seasons on October 20 and November.