October 2017 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Saint Cloud October 2017 Weather Summary  

October ended being the rainiest month of 2017 in a swath in central Minnesota. St. Cloud was in the center of a band of 5-10 inch rainfalls (see NWS October Minnesota rainfall chart) that split Minnesota from Pipestone to Cloquet. Within that band, the St. Cloud Regional Airport amassed 5.08 inches, 2.59 inches above the October average of 2.49 inches. That ranks as the 7th wettest October in St. Cloud records.

The heaviest rain came right at the start of the month with 1.55 inch on October 2 and 1.36 inch on October 3, each of which set daily rainfall records. There were two other moderate rain events, 0.64 inch on the 14th and 15th, and 0.57 inch on the 21st.

The heavy precipitation came in the generally warm weather pattern that dominated the first 3 weeks of the month. The early month rainfall was triggered as a very slow moving front produced a series of thunderstorms that regenerated over Minnesota over a period of a couple of days. This storm had access to moisture levels that would be typical for a summer thunderstorm outbreak, rather than a mid-fall weather system. The two other moderate rain periods came during cold fronts that were steady movers, so the rain wasn't as prolonged or as heavy as was seen earlier in the month.

For the growing season (April 1-October 31), the St. Cloud Regional Airport picked up 26.95 inches, 3.74 inches above average. This is not as wet as the severely wet conditions from the Alexandria Lakes to west of Lake Mille Lacs or as unusually dry as in northwestern Minnesota. For the year, St. Cloud has had 28.94 inches, 3.41 incxhes above average.

Of that 5 plus inches of water, a total of 1.4 inches fell as snow. The only day with measurable snowfall was October 27 as central Minnesota received a glancing blow from a snowstorm that dumped 8-12 inches in north central and northeastern Minnesota.

While October snowfall is unusual, it isn't as rare as we'd like to think in St. Cloud. 45 of the 124 Octobers on record have had measurable snowfall. October 2017 was the 25th October out of the 124 with at least an inch of snow, so the average is 1 out of 5 years. The last October with an inch was 2009 (2.5 inches). The earliest snow in St. Cloud history is September 21, 1995 when 0.2 inches fell. The earliest inch was on October 12, 1969. 3.6 inches fell that day. The earliest inch in recent years was on October 17, 2002 when 1.8 inches fell. That was part of the second snowiest October on record with 6.4 inches. Note also that the infamous Halloween Blizzard of 1991 only ranks 9th in snowiest Octobers, since the bulk of the 13.3 inches fell after midnight on Halloween night.

Temperatures had quite the ups and downs in October. Even though this October may be remembered more for the late October snow and cold, the average temperature was actually 47.2 degrees, 1.5 degrees above average. While 12 October days, including the last 5, were colder than average, there were 4 October days more than 10 degrees above average. St. Cloud came close to setting some record warm temperatures with 4 days having a high of at least 70 degrees. The first frost didn't come until October 9, followed on October 10 by a hard freeze with a low of 25 degrees. The first frost was among the latest 10% for first frosts and the first hard freeze was among the latest 25 percent.

It appears that the late October trend is continuing in early November with the possibility of significant snowfall through the first week.

     October 2017 Statistics