Northeast endures 15th coolest autumn on record

November capped a cool autumn in the Northeast, making it the fifth month in a row of average temperatures below the 30-year normal, according to Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. The region's area-weighted monthly average temperature was 2.9 degrees cooler than normal, making it the 21st coolest November in the last 103 years.

Each of the three autumn months (September, October and November) averaged cooler than normal temperatures in the Northeast. Departures from normal temperatures were generally the largest in the southwestern part of the region, as West Virginia averaged 3.7 degrees cooler than normal. Maine had the smallest departure at 2 degrees below normal. The autumn season was 1.5 degrees cooler than normal -- the Northeast's 15th coolest autumn on record.

Most of the Northeast received ample amounts of precipitation during November. The average precipitation accumulation across the Northeast during the month was 128 percent of normal, making it the 14th wettest November on record. Delaware was the wettest state with respect to normal, as its area-weighted average for the month of 6.05 inches was 186 percent of normal. It was Delaware's 4th wettest November in 103 years. Maine was the only state that was drier than normal, with 89 percent of the long-term average of precipitation.

Autumn precipitation as a whole was near-normal for most of the Northeast. The area-weighted average for the region was 91 percent of normal. Maine, however, received only 72 percent of its normal precipitation for the three autumn months, making it Maine's 14th driest autumn on record.

New Weather Records

24-our Precipitation Records for November (inches)

 

City                          Date     New     Previous
Pittsburgh                    7th     1.86     1.85 on 11/15/1871

Daily Precipitation Records (inches)
City                          Date     New     Previous
Baltimore                     7th     2.44     2.27 in 1951
National Airport, Va.         7th     2.00     1.04 in 1932
Pittsburgh                    7th     1.86     0.70 in 1977

Daily Snowfall Records (inches)
City                          Date     New     Previous
Buffalo, N.Y.                 14th     9.5     6.9 in 1972
Rochester, N.Y.               14th    10.6     7.3 in 1972
Syracuse, N.Y.                14th     8.6     5.9 in 1972
Williamsport, Pa.             16th     0.4     Trace in 1995
Caribou, Maine                24th     4.2     3.6 in 1978

Minimum Temperature Records
City                          Date     New     Previous
Beckley, W.Va.                18th     13¡     18¡  in 1965
Elkins, W.Va.                 18th      7¡     10¡  in 1959
Montpelier, Vt. (tie)         25th      4¡      4¡  in 1993

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