Fall 2016 (September-November) was abnormally warm and dry across the Quad-state region. Temperatures were generally 4 to 6 degrees above normal for the fall season. This is a large departure when considering a whole 3 month period. Paducah, KY and Cape Girardeau, MO both experienced their warmest fall season on record. Evansville, IN finished as their 2nd warmest fall on record, only behind 1931. The majority of the area saw below normal precipitation, a drastic change from the very wet conditions back in July and August. Drought conditions expanded across much of Kentucky by mid October, and conditions worsened heading into November when severe drought conditions developed by the middle of the month. The drought conditions slowly progressed northward as well, with abnormally dry conditions expanding to the southern Illinois and the Ozark Foothills region. Portions of southern IL close to the I-64 corridor faired better in the rainfall department with near normal to even slightly above normal precipitation up near Mount Vernon and Fairfield, IL. Some much needed rain finally came on November 28th with widespread amounts of 1 to 2 inches falling across the area. Despite this, Paducah still finished as the 2nd driest fall on record, with less than 4 inches falling for the whole season. This was over 8 inches below normal.
| Fall 2016 Review: Precipitation and Temperature Maps |
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| Climate Maps are from the Northeast Regional Climate Center |
The graphic below shows the various NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information) climate divisions across the country, and their rank compared with other years on record, dating back to 1895. Each climate division uses numerous different observing stations to acquire the average for that particular region. This fall season was ranked as the warmest or 2nd warmest for a vast majority of climate divisions across the country. For the country as a whole, it was the warmest fall season on record. Check out the full summary put together by NCEI: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/national/201611
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