October Was Another Very Warm Month In Vermont

Decent fall foliage and even some green leaves on
trees around my garden shed in northwestern Vermont
this morning. Usually, the woods are dull and gray by
November 1, but foliage lingers after a warm autumn

Given the chilly, damp weather of the past week or so, it doesn't seem like October in Vermont was all that warm.

However, the first three weeks of the month were totally toasty, so at least at the National Weather Service office in South Burlington, Vermont, we managed to tie for the 10th hottest October on record.  

The mean temperature for the month was 52.3 degrees or 4.3 degrees warmer than normal. We tied with 1946 and 1897 for tenth hottest October.

This continues what has been an extraordinarily warm year in Vermont so far. In Burlington, the first ten months of the year averaged 3.1 degrees warmer than normal. That's pretty extreme for a ten month period.

If November and December are normal to mild, we could easily end up with our hottest year on record. (Though some long range models suggest a frigid second half of November and December, we'll see about that.)

The warmth is still visible around us. Though foliage is definitely past peak in Vermont's Champlain Valley, there are still some very nice splashes of color on November 1, something I've never seen before.

Sure, we usually do have the occasional yellow larch and late season birch with bursts of yellow, and we usually have sad rust colored oak leaves clinging to the trees November 1.

But there's still a few green leaves out my window, and some lovely red and orange sugar maple leaves still brightening the hillsides around my northwestern Vermont house.

I don't know exactly what all of November will bring, but the first few days will be mild. It could hit 60 Wednesday before near normal temperatures return this coming weekend. Still no Arctic blasts on the immediate horizon, though.