The extreme warmth that has flooded much of the continental United States doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave.
The past few days have not simply been warm; they’ve been downright hot — with temperature records falling by the wayside.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Oneida reached 80 degrees on Tuesday, after a high of 79 on Monday and a high of 77 on Sunday.
Tuesday’s high of 80 was a record high temperature for the date of November 10, and it also marked the latest in recorded history that an 80-degree temperature reading has been recorded in Oneida. The previous record was 1975, when the temperature reached 80 on November 9.
Tuesday also marked the first time a temperature reading of 80 or higher has been recorded in Oneida during the month of November since 2016, and just the second time it’s happened since 2003. It’s only happened a handful of times dating back to 1960.
The temperature going forward won’t be quite that extreme, forecasters say, but it’ll still be quite warm. In fact, with the National Weather Service forecasting above-average temperatures all the way through Thanksgiving, November 2020 appears to be shaping up as one of the warmest Novembers on record in Oneida.
The current record for warmest November belongs to 1985. Temperatures weren’t quite as extreme that year as they have been this year; the highest temperature recorded during the month was 74. But temperatures were consistently above-average, and the month ended with an average temperature of 54 degrees, about six degrees above normal.
Nineteen years later, in 2004, November featured temperatures consistently in the 60s and occasionally in the 70s through Thanksgiving. The final average temperature for the month was a little over 50 degrees, close to five degrees above normal.
Through the first 10 days of November 2020, the average temperature is 51.3 degrees. If that seems surprisingly low, it’s because nighttime temperatures have not kept pace with daytime temperatures. While the average daytime high for this month is running seven degrees above normal, nighttime temperatures have actually been below-average through the first 10 days of the month. That’s due in no small part to three consecutive nights of hard freezes early in the month, with the temperature dropping to 25 on November 2 and November 3, and to 27 on November 4. The average nighttime low in November is 36.
If the National Weather Service forecast is correct, temperatures won’t be back near 80 again for a while. A cold front will pass through the region on Wednesday, bringing rain and temperatures falling through the 60s during the day. The high will then be in the low to mid 60s each day for the remainder of the week and the weekend, before another cold front potentially drops the high on Monday into the mid 50s.
But that’s still warm for this time of year. The normal high is just about 60 degrees. By Thanksgiving, the normal high has dropped into the mid 50s.
The NWS’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting warmth to continue to flood much of the continental U.S. for the next 14 days, which takes the nation into Thanksgiving week with temperatures well into the 60s.
Above-average temperatures are forecasted by the CPC to persist into the month of December. In fact, this year’s Scott County Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade, slated for Saturday, December 5, could be one of those occasions where parade-goers will be comfortable in t-shirts, if current long-range trends hold true.
