October Was Warm In U.S. We're Still Waiting On Global Data

Most of the nation had a warm October. That's cold
comfort to us shivering through a November cold snap.  n

In the next week or so, we'll get data from such agencies as NOAA and the National Climate Data globe continued a record-setting trend in hot temperatures in October.
Center to see whether the

2014 might end up being the hottest year on record.

While we wait for that, and most of the nation shivers through an early season cold snap, we can at least look at the NCDC's review of October for the United States.

It turns out most of us enjoyed a warm autumn month.

For the United States, October was the fourth warmest in 120 years of record. The warmth was driven by the month being in the Top 10 warmest in much of the western United States, and most of New England. And New York State.

The Midwest continued to be the nation's ice box, as it has been all year. However, in October, temperatures there were near normal, not below normal as they've been during most of 2014.

Overall, precipitation for the United States was near normal, but nearly percent of the nation was still in drought. California's dire drought situation didn't get any better in October, I'm afraid.

With just two months of data to go, it looks like California will have its warmest year on record. Many western states will have one of its Top 10 warmest years on record.

By contrast, upper Midwestern states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois, are likely to have one of their Top 10 coldest years on record.

You can't read much into the global climate change situation by looking at United States data alone. The nation comprises maybe 2 percent of the world's surface.

We'll have to wait another few days to see how the entire planet did in terms of climate during October.