Minnesota October fortnight 16 degrees below normal

Brrrr! First half of October the coldest ever - High temperature averaged a chilly 47 degrees for the first two weeks of the month - 16 degrees below normal.

Excerpt:

With 19 consecutive days of below normal temperatures and accumulating snow falling a few weeks before normal, news that this has been the coldest start to an October on record in the Twin Cities probably isn't all that shocking.

On Friday, the National Weather Service confirmed that there has never been a colder first two weeks of the month ever. Typically the average high temperature for the Twin Cities from Oct. 1-14 is 63 degrees but this year the average high temperature was only 47 degrees, or 16 degrees below average. That breaks the old mark of 52 degrees set back in 1875. The last time we experienced cold of this magnitude was in 1979 when the average daily high temperature was 54 degrees, the Weather Service said.

On the other end of the scale, the average low temperature for the first two weeks of October is 42 degrees. This year the average low temperature was 36 degrees, which ties it for 10th place on the list of coldest starts to October. The 36-degree low was matched in 1985, 1987 and 1993.

With an official total of 2.8 inches of snow for the month thus far, 2009 is now seventh all time in terms of snowy Octobers and the snowiest since 1977. The snowiest October was in 1991 when 8.2 inches fell on Oct. 31. This month also is one of the 10 wettest of all time.

Comment: On the good side, the moisture is needed!