October 2021 Ties for the 5th Warmest October in Monroe History

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - If you thought this October felt less like Fall and more like Summer, you would be correct. October 2021 will go down in the record books tied for the 5th warmest October in Monroe history. Note: records have been kept since 1893.

October 2021 will go down in the record books as the 5th warmest since 1893.(KNOE)

As you can see, both high temperatures and low temperatures ran above average. Throughout the month, daily highs were 3.6 degrees warmer than the monthly average. Low temperatures, however, were even more impressively above-average. With an average monthly low of 58.8 F, the Monroe area was nearly 5.1 degrees warmer than the “normal” of 53.7 F.

This is because we had a much more humid October than is typical, and that humidity kept us warmer during the overnight hours.

Despite the warm and humid month, the ArkLaMiss was also largely starved of rainfall. Monroe Regional Airport (where all temperature and precipitation data are pulled from) got exactly 1 inch of rain. The monthly normal is 4.95 inches. Furthermore, 75% of that rain came in the span of two days - October 27th and 28th. Owing to the dry weather, drought conditions have now started to encroach upon northeastern Louisiana.

The ArkLaMiss saw a very dry October, with just over 20% of its average rainfall(KNOE)

The warm and dry weather was caused by a stubborn (and summer-like) pattern. Typically, the jet stream starts to bend south into the United States in October, which results in multiple storm systems and cold fronts. But October 2021 featured very little of that. Instead, a persistent high pressure dome - otherwise known as a “ridge” - set up shop over the central United States. It forced the jet stream to stay north. It also diverted storm systems and cold fronts away from the ArkLaMiss, trapping the region in summer-like heat.

This pattern kept us warm and dry for much of the month(KNOE)

October’s warmth was not limited to Louisiana, as much of the United States experienced temperatures far above average. In fact, some locations near the Great Lakes saw temperatures this month as much as 6 to 8 degrees above the seasonal norm.