Alabama 811 | Know What's Below.

Welcome To October!

| October 1, 2016 @ 10:25 am

october-infographic

Welcome to the month of October, which is known to be the month that has the greatest amount of clear skies. According to your perception of what is nice, I believe that October is the nicest month for weather in Central Alabama. It is a great month of transition between the hotter temperatures from the end of the summer season and the cooler temperatures of what is expected for the fall season. Here is what you can expect climatology-wise for Central Alabama in the month of October.

TEMPERATURES:
Temperatures will really start to fall off in the month ahead as the heat budget continues to become more negative as daily sunlight continues to decrease in both duration and sky angle. The average high today is 80F, but that will fall to 70F by the end of the month. The average low for today is 58F, but that too will fall to 46F by Halloween.

Birmingham’s earliest recorded freeze occurred on October 18, 1948. The coldest it has ever been in the Magic City in any October is 27F on October 28, 1957 and October 29, 1952. Three 94F readings have been recorded, all early in the month.

RAINFALL:
October ranks as the driest month in Birmingham. On average, it rains six days in the month and thunderstorms occur on only one day. Average rainfall for the month is 3.23 inches. 11.90 inches fell in October 1995, thanks to Hurricane Opal. Four Octobers have been completely dry, including 1897, 1899, 1901 and 1924.

FALL FIRE SEASON:
With October historically know as a dry month, along with the lack of rainfall that we have had in Central Alabama this year, and with the thought of the lack of any rainfall over the first 10 days of the month, we need to use extreme safety precautions with any type of outdoor burning. It would be best if we could postpone burning until after we receive a decent rainfall.

Category: Alabama's Weather

About the Author ()

Scott Martin is an operational meteorologist, professional graphic artist, musician, husband, and father. Not only is Scott a member of the National Weather Association, but he is also the Central Alabama Chapter of the NWA president. Scott is also the co-founder of Racecast Weather, which provides forecasts for many racing series across the USA. He also supplies forecasts for the BassMaster Elite Series events including the BassMaster Classic.

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