10-31-16
By: Bill Kinsland
(Sautee)- Halloween always brings all kinds of surprises….and little ghosts and goblins might well change the traditional “Trick-or-Treat” greeting to “Trick-or-Heat”!
Although final numbers are still being crunched, it is clear that this October will probably turn out to be the hottest October on record for White County. New daily high-temperature records were set seven times this month in Cleveland. Sautee set new high-temperature records ten times.
Over the final weekend of the month, three days of high-temperature records were shattered. On Friday, WRWH weather observer Dean Dyer recorded a high temperature of 83 degrees which was 16 degrees above normal and broke the previous record of 82 degrees set in 2000. Sautee recorded a high temperature of 78 degrees….also 16 degrees above normal, topping the previous record of 75 degrees in 2000.
The heat wave continued Saturday with Cleveland’s high temperature of 83 degrees which was 16 degrees above normal, topping its previous record high of 73 set in 2000. Sautee’s top temperature of 76 was 14 degrees above normal and blew away the previous record of 67 set in 2004.
Still in the grip of a strong upper-level high-pressure ridge over much of the eastern United States, Sunday saw more heat records created. Cleveland recorded a high of 82 which was 15 degrees above normal, topping the previous record of 78 set in 2000. At Sautee, the high temperature of 76 was 11 degrees above normal, obliterating the 73-degree record set in 2004.
Although White County normally records its first autumn frosts around the middle of October, only one freezing temperature was recorded this month. Cleveland had a 32-degree reading on Sunday morning, October 23rd with some scattered frost observed on nearby roof tops.
All this record heat comes at a time of extreme drought. October ended with no measurable rainfall being recorded for 23 consecutive days. The total year-to-date average rainfall stands at 35.11 inches which is 19.00 inches below normal as of Monday morning, October 31st.
