Put another notch in the thermometer. October became the eighth month this year in the Northeast with temperatures averaging above normal, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

Temperatures for the 12-state region averaged 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal (based on a 30-year average) of 49.4 degrees during October -- the third month in a row this has occurred, says Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist with the center. This year, only June and July's average temperatures were cooler than normal.

With an average of 49.4 degrees during October, New York state averaged 1.1 degrees warmer than the normal 48.3 degrees. Delaware averaged the smallest departure for the month at just 0.1 degree warmer than normal with a temperature of 56.9 degrees.

Northeast region temperatures for the period Jan. 1 through Oct. 31 averaged 52.4 degrees, or 2.9 degrees warmer than normal. This ranks as the third-warmest such period on record, trailing by two-tenths of a degree the front-running year, 1921, when the average was 52.6 degrees. In 1949 the average was 52.5 degrees.

Eggleston notes that if the Northeast region averages about 1.8 degrees warmer than normal for the months of November and December, it will be the warmest year in 104 years of record-keeping. However, as of mid-November, the month's temperatures were running cooler than normal.

October's precipitation exceeded normal levels across most of New England, while the climate was dry nearly everywhere else in the Northeast, Eggleston says. During the month, Connecticut was the wettest state with 130 percent of normal, which is 3.86 inches. West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey were very dry. West Virginia received 60 percent of its normal precipitation, Maryland saw 62 percent and New Jersey received 67 percent. At 3.15 inches, the Northeast received 95 percent of its normal October precipitation, which is 3.33 inches.

Chances of a White Thanksgiving (Nov. 26):