More than a dozen cities set records for warmest October

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Autumn was more than fashionably late in the West; it took nearly a third of its time off. And with summer left in charge, October shattered quite a few heat records.

Portland joined Pendleton and Medford in Oregon, as well as Spokane in Washington, in notching their warmest October on record, according to FOX Weather Data Specialist Shane Brown. Portland nearly doubled its record for the number of 80-degree days in the month with 12.

Several other cities in the West just missed, and only because the last week or so of October saw the pattern flip to an opposite cooler stretch of weather to drag the monthly average temperatures down.  

Seattle set its warmest October by average high temperature, but by overall average temperature, it came in runner-up to 2014.  Yakima, Washington and Eugene, Oregon also finished second, while Salem, Oregon finished third, Fresno, California was 5th, Salt Lake City and Reno, Nevada was 6th and Las Vegas was 8th-warmest.

Overall, 13 cities with at least 30 years of reliable weather records had their warmest October, while 136 stations finished in their Top 10.

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No cities of note finished with their coolest October on record, and only Jackson, Mississippi (9th) and Charleston, West Virginia (10th) though if you count some small stations with shorter time periods, 23 had their coldest October with 254 reaching the Top 10 -- nearly all in the Appalachians and South.

Cloudcroft, New Mexico was the only station of note to have their wettest October, while New York City (6th), Atlantic City (7th), Philadelphia (8th) and Newark (8th) were among the 67 stations finishing with a Top 10 wettest October. Most of those stations were in the Northeast, around Montana, or in the tropical-moisture-soaked Desert Southwest.

On the other hand, 58 stations reported their driest October with a vast majority in drought-parched California.  Those cities include Sacramento, Stockton, Bakersfield and Stockton -- most all technically ties because they finished the month with zero rainfall. Las Vegas also finished the month with no rainfall -- the third time in the past four years they've had a dry October.

Outside the West, Jackson, Kentucky (2nd), Minneapolis (6th), Grand Forks, North Dakota (7th) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (8th) finished in their Top 10 list for driest Octobers.

Cool in the West; Warm in the East for November

NOAA's outlook for November suggests a flip of the script with the West likely to remain cooler than average while it will be quite mild in the East:

Along those lines, NOAA expected the West to be wetter than average while drier than average conditions are forecast for the East.