Texas Climate Report: October 2005

Overall, the Lone Star state had near normal temperatures for the month of October which was a stark contrast to the record- setting heat in September. The temperatures in the western half of the state was a bit below normal, partly due to greater than average precipitation in the area. The eastern half of the state was drier than normal with slightly above average temperatures.

The first week of October was unusually warm across the entire state of Texas with high temperatures in the 90s. However, the bottom dropped out on the temperatures across the western half of the state as a cold front invaded the state on the 6th. For instance, the high in Abilene on the 5th was 91°F, but only a day later on the 6th, the high was only a miserable 59°F with 2.52" of rainfall. The cold front reached Austin by the 7th, with temperature struggling to reach the 60°F mark with rain and fog in the area.

Below normal temperatures stayed in place for the next few days, but as an upper level ridge built over eastern Texas, temperatures crept back above normal with dry conditions in place. However along the Rio Grande in Del Rio, the weather on the 13th was anything but dry as 7.59" of rain was recorded in a 24-hour period, the fourth highest single-day total in that city’s recorded history. Nearly an inch of rain fell in San Angelo on the same day. The 18th and 19th were particularly warm days through much of the state, particularly in North Central and East Texas, with high temperatures topping the 90°F mark. The high temperature in Dallas soared to 93°F on the 18th, tying a record high that was set a year earlier.

The warm weather did not last long because a cold front swept through the state on the 23rd. The mercury plummeted in Amarillo to 26°F by the morning of the morning of the 24th after a high of only 47°F the day before. Temperatures in the state capital dropped to the freezing mark the next morning with the daily average temperature 15°F below normal. A gloomy Halloween greeted trick-or-treaters on the 31st as a mass of rainfall pushed across the state. Houston picked up 1.14", Longview had 1.19", and Victoria received 1.40" of rainfall.

Severe weather was largely absent throughout October. An exception was the 27th in the Southern region as two tornadoes touched down between Laredo and Corpus Christi. The day also saw nine reports of wind and two reports of hail. Eleven reports of hail and 13 reports of wind were documented on Halloween.

Monthly Summary for Selected Cities

Monthly Extremes

New Monthly Records

Climatic Averages for November