MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD OCTOBER 2008 OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY NATE MULLINS Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am DAY 24-hour Rain Snow/ Snow Special WEATHER Date Max Min Equiv Ice Depth Obs. SUMMARY 1 59 52 .08 Light showers 2 58 48 Partly cloudy, gusty winds (40+ mph) 3 59 50 Mostly sunny 4 65 48 Mostly sunny 5 69 50 F Heavy AM fog, then sunny 6 67 47 F AM fog, then sunny 7 62 57 Partly cloudy 8 59 43 Cloudy 9 72 57 Mostly sunny 10 67 47 Partly cloudy 11 68 44 Partly cloudy 12 70 44 F Dense AM fog, then sunny 13 73 45 Partly cloudy, becoming mostly cloudy 14 74 57 Mostly sunny, partly-mostly cloudy late 15 80 59 Mostly cloudy, warm, partly cloudy late 16 72 53 Mostly cloudy, falling temps 17 53 44 Mostly cloudy 18 53 38 Cloudy 19 53 32 First frost/freeze, mostly sunny 20 57 30 AM frost, Sunny 21 53 38 T AM mostly cloudy, sprinkles, then partly cloudy 22 53 42 Breezy AM, partly cloudy 23 55 29 Cool AM, mostly sunny, breezy 24 49 42 .18 Cloudy, late evening shower 25 53 38 .42 Cloudy, heavy predawn showers ended mid-AM 26 62 37 Partly cloudy 27 50 43 Cloudy, windy 28 45 41 .12 Cloudy, windy, few showers, cool, snow in Mtns 29 43 34 .03 T Flurries overnight, light showers, mostly cloudy, windy 30 54 33 Partly cloudy 31 70 33 Sunny, mild AVG/SUM 60.5 43.7 0.83 T - EXT 80 29 0.42 T - Date 15 23 25 29 - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 52.1 F Year precipitation to date: 37.99" Season snowfall to date: Trace Number of days with: Fog: 3 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1-2: Light rain on 1st, strong winds gusting 40+ mph on 2nd 15: Record warmth, high of 80 F. Dry cold frontal passage on the 16th dropped temperatures back into the 50s 24-25: Showers overnight and through mid-morning on the 25th. Not nearly as much rain as expected but broke the streak of 22 consecutive days without measurable rainfall and .42" on the 25th was the month's heaviest rainfall 28-29: Unseasonably cold, windy, valley rain showers and mountain snow showers. Several inches of snow fell overnight in the nearby higher terrain with 3.6" reported at Frostburg and 6 to 9 inches in the highest elevations. Piney Mountain just to our west was white on the morning of the 29th. Only a few wet flurries were observed in valley locations such as Creasaptown, LaVale and Cumberland. 31: Quite a nice rebound in temperatures with an afternoon high of 70 F. MONTHLY SUMMARY Temperatures were near normal this month, perhaps slightly below thanks to the cold air blast near the end of the month, which followed a cold front that merged with a strong low forming just off the New Jersey Coast (more on this storm below). The mean temperature was 52.1 F, just 0.1 degrees shy of the 17-year median of 52.2 and 1 degree shy of the mean of 53.1 F. The first frost and freeze didn't occur until the 19th, and this came shortly following the max temperature of 80 F on the 15th. The low reached 29 on the 23rd. The coldest temperatures were predictably near the end of the month following a couple of frontal passages, but rebounded quickly to 70 F on Halloween, just two days after the high only reached 43 and heavy snow fell in the mountains. Precipitation reverted back to the 1992-2001 trend of very dry Octobers. Only 0.83" of precipitation fell, with a trace of snow. 22 consecutive days (2nd-23rd) had no measurable rainfall. Despite the excessive dryness, it was only the 4th driest October, as 1992, 1994 and 2000 were slightly drier. The weather pattern was quite "boring" until the final week, when a cold front brought moderate rains on the 24th-25th (but much less than the 1.5 to 2 inches of rain that were supposed to fall). A few days later a surprise storm blew up just off the New Jersey Coast, bringing a cold rain to the central and eastern part of the state and mountain snow showers courtesy of a strong NW winds off a warm Lake Erie. Several inches accumulated on the mountain ridges and higher elevation stations, such as Frostburg and other mountain stations in PA/MD/WV. However, only a few flurries and light rain showers fell in the valleys, and temperatures rebounded quickly to 70 on Halloween. Additional notes/records 2-23: 22 consecutive days without measurable rainfall. 29: Trace of snow.