October weather summary: We say goodbye to the warmest October on record!
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — After a record warm October we are finally cooling off and sliding into November. Let’s take a look at the interesting weather patterns we observed this month!
Temperature Overview
The first half of the month was abnormally warm, Salt Lake City saw 15 consecutive days of 80+ degree weather this month, which is absurd as we usually get one or two days in the whole month. Before this year, the most 80+ degree days ever recorded in October was only 8 back in 2020.
We also saw the first and only 90+ degree temperature in October for many cities across the state, and a few places like St. George saw their first 100+ degree October day. This is the hottest October for St. George, Salt Lake City, and several other cities.
This month Salt Lake City’s average high temperature was 74.3 degrees, which blows the 30-year average of 65.3 degrees out of the water. If we take the average daily temperature, including overnight lows and daytime highs, this month’s average comes out to 62.4 degrees, which puts Salt Lake comfortably in first place for the warmest October, outdoing the previous record of 60.5 degrees in 2015.
St. George’s average high for the month was 86.4 degrees whereas the 30-year average is 79.7 degrees. Their average overall temperature for the month was 69.9 degrees, which also places it in first place above the old 2003 record of 69.4 degrees.
The warmest day of the month for most Utahns was the fourth when Salt Lake City and many others not only broke the daily record but also the monthly record and the latest 90-degree day ever. That wasn’t the only day that broke records, 14 out of the first 15 days of the month scorched us with record heat.
Temperature Records
We won’t be able to go over the extensive list of records on anything short of a small book, but let’s briefly summarize some of the more populated cities on each of the record-breaking days:
Oct. 1 – Spanish Fork hit 91 degrees breaking their old record by a degree while Cedar City tied their 2010 record of 87 degrees.
Oct. 2 – Cedar City beat their record by a degree, reaching 88 degrees, Kanab reached 93 degrees breaking the record by three degrees, and Spanish Fork hit 91 degrees again outdoing their 2010 record by three degrees.
Oct. 3 – Cedar City reached 87 degrees and Kanab hit 92 degrees, both cities broke their records by two degrees.
Oct. 4 – Salt Lake City hit 92 degrees, which buries the 1963 record by six degrees and is their warmest October temperature ever!
Oct. 5 – Spanish Fork and Kanab both tied their records, topping out at 86 degrees and 90 degrees respectively. Mountain Dell Dam reached 86 degrees which breaks their record by two.
Oct. 6 – Cedar City hit 85 degrees and Kanab hit 90 degrees which ties their old records. City Creek Water Plant broke their record by a degree with a high of 79 degrees.
Oct. 7 – Cedar City broke its record by a degree, topping out at 86 degrees. Downtown Salt Lake tied the 1991 record of 80 degrees.
Oct. 9 – BYU Provo (87 degrees), Salt Lake International Airport (86 degrees), and Manti (83 degrees) tied their previous records, but downtown Salt Lake broke theirs by three degrees with a high of 84 degrees.
Oct.10 – Downtown Salt Lake tied the record at 86° and Tooele broke theirs by three degrees with a high of 87 degrees.
Oct. 11 – The Salt Lake Airport (88 degrees) and City Creek Water Plant (81 degrees) broke their records by a degree while BYU Provo tied theirs at 86 degrees.
Oct. 12 – Tooele tied their record at 83° and City Creek Water Plant had a high of 80 degrees, six degrees above the previous record.
Oct. 13 – Alta (66 degrees) and City Creek Water Plant (79 degrees) broke their records by two degrees while downtown Salt Lake tied theirs at 81°.
Oct. 14 – BYU Provo, the Salt Lake International Airport, and downtown Salt Lake each broke their 2015 records all reaching 83°.
Oct. 15 – Downtown Salt Lake at 80 degrees and City Creek Water Plant at 79 degrees broke their records by a degree.
Oct. 23 – Eskdale broke the record by a degree with a high of 81 degrees.
By Oct. 17 and 18, we saw a cold front move in which tanked temperatures by about 30 degrees in only 24-36 hours statewide. Not only did it bring cooler temperatures, but it also brought one of this month’s only storms.
Precipitation
We only had two organized storm systems roll through the Beehive State this month. The first round rolled in to start the second half of the month and brought valley rain and mountain snow, but snow could be seen as low as benches and high valleys at 5,000 feet. It also was responsible for about a dozen new precipitation records on Oct. 18.
The second wave wasn’t until the last week of the month, but it wasn’t quite as impactful. Overall, we underperformed in the precipitation department. Salt Lake wrapped up the month with 0.79 inches total, falling short of the average of 1.32 inches. St. George fell even more flat of their typical 0.77 inches, receiving a monthly total of a mere 0.09 inches.
Precipitation Records
For nearly everyone, Oct. 17 and 18 dumped well over half of the total monthly precipitation, but the records came on Oct. 18. Let’s break down some of the more notable records that came out of it.
Duchesne more than quadrupled their old precipitation record of 0.34 inches set in 1969 with a total of 1.46 inches. Spanish Fork doubled their 92-year-old record with a healthy 1.36 inches. Tooele received 1.17 inches, obliterating the previous record of 0.70 inches.
BYU-Provo also joined the record club with one inch even, which beats the record by a decent 0.15-inch margin. Scipio and Oak City also broke precipitation records, but they also had record snow. Oak City had never recorded snow on the 18th until this year when they got a solid 3.2 inches of snow! Scipio’s old 0.4-inch snow record was more than doubled with an even one inch.
Wildfires
The prolonged dry period and hot air made for ideal fire conditions. At the very end of September, we saw the Yellow Lake Fire spark up, but as we got into October it blew up to be Utah’s biggest wildfire of 2024. The Yellow Lake Fire prompted immediate evacuations for areas around Mirror Lake Highway and polluted the skies with smoke, especially in eastern Utah.
The fire burned throughout the entire month, as of Oct. 31 it was 66% containment and spread 33,000+ acres. There were a few more fires like the Fish Lake Fire or the Cherry Creek Fire in Juab County near Tooele which burned almost 1,000 acres and pumped smoke into the Wasatch Front and West Desert.
Unlike October, we’re starting this month with more seasonal temperatures and Autumn feels. Let’s see what exciting weather November brings!
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