Although rain and thundershowers hogged the periphery of the country during October, unusual autumn warmth was spread across much of the United States.
For the 48 cities of US, October came in as the third hottest of the 122 Octobers.
On a statewide basis, this year had the warmest October on record for New Mexico and 22 other states. One and only of the 48 states that ended up in cooler than normal temperatures was Oregon.
Incessant stream of storms swept across the Pacific Northwest and into the Northern Rockies during October which has brought torrential rains over large swaths of the region.
The states of Washington, Idaho and Montana had their wettest October on record. In fact, both Oregon and California were placed in the top five.
Across the Southeast US, Hurricane Matthew has given heaviest downpours over Eastern North and South Carolina. Extremely heavy rains were also witnessed across the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast and New England, including some drought-stricken areas as well.
In the meantime, Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas also had their top-ten driest Octobers. While little or no rain fell in parts of Northwest Georgia, Atlanta recorded only 0.16 inches, which is less than 5% of its average rainfall for October.
2016 is running just behind 2012 for the title of hottest year in US record-keeping history. In order to come out on top, the country would have to produce the warmest November and December on record this year.
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