OCTOBER 3, 2024: Vehicles passing along the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles, California, during a triple-digit heatwave throughout Southern California. (Image credit: Getty Images)
Very warm temperatures and an expanding drought covered much of the U.S. last month, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
Here are more highlights from NOAA’s latest monthly U.S. climate report:
Climate by the numbers
October 2024
The average October temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 59.0 degrees F, 4.9 degrees above the 20th-century average, ranking as the second-warmest October — behind October 1963 — in NOAA’s 130-year U.S. climate record.
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Utah each saw their warmest October on record. California, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming each had their second-warmest October on record, with an additional 10 states experiencing their top-10 warmest.
The average October precipitation across the Lower 48 was 0.95 of an inch — 1.21 inches below average — tying with October 1963 as the second-driest October on record. The nation’s driest October was October 1952.
Delaware and New Jersey each had their driest October on record, with an additional 19 states from Texas to the Northeast seeing their top-10 driest October.
Year to date (YTD, January through October 2024)
The average U.S. temperature for the YTD was 58.3 degrees F, 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average, ranking as the second-warmest such YTD in the climate record.
Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin each saw their warmest January–October on record.
The U.S. precipitation total for the YTD was 26.17 inches — 0.83 of an inch above average — ranking in the wettest third of the January-October climate record.
(Image credit: NOAA/NCEI)
Other notable highlights from this report for October
- Persistent heat and dry conditions caused rapid expansion of drought: According to the October 29 U.S. Drought Monitor report offsite link, 87.16% of the contiguous U.S. was experiencing abnormally dry to exceptional drought conditions — a record in the program’s 25-year history. At least a half-dozen weather stations across the Mid-Atlantic, including Philadelphia, Newark and Trenton, New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia, and Wilmington, Delaware, set records for the number of consecutive days without measurable precipitation from late September through early November.
- Milton struck Florida: Hurricane Milton made landfall near Tampa, Florida, as a Category 3 storm on October 9, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall about 200 miles to the north. More than 100 tornadoes were spawned across Florida and millions were without power as a result of the storm. Hurricane Milton was a Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster and was included in the update released in late October.
More > Access NOAA’s latest climate report and download the images.