ABUS34 KDSM 161713 CCA PNSDSM PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED FOR ALIGNMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1113 AM CST FRI NOV 16 2001 ... A RECORD WARM NOVEMBER FOR IOWA? ... TEMPERATURES DURING THE FIRST ONE-HALF OF NOVEMBER IN IOWA HAVE AVERAGED 11.3 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL. AMONG THE 129 YEARS OF STATEWIDE TEMPERATURE DATA THE WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD OCCURRED JUST TWO YEARS AGO IN 1999 WHEN IOWA AVERAGED 6.9 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL. TEMPERATURES OVER THE SECOND ONE-HALF OF THIS MONTH WILL NEED TO AVERAGE ONLY 2.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL TO EQUAL THE RECORD WARMTH OF 1999. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST INDICATES THAT IOWA WILL EXPERIENCE TWO MORE VERY MILD DAYS (TODAY AND SATURDAY) WITH TEMPERATURES SLIPPING BACK DOWN TO NORMAL BY MONDAY. EXTENDED RANGE FORECASTS FROM THE NWS CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATE THAT TEMPERATURES WILL AVERAGE NEAR OR SOMEWHAT BELOW NORMAL FOR THE LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH. PUTTING ALL OF THE FORECAST DATA TOGETHER GIVES US ABOUT A 50-50 CHANCE OF ACTUALLY BREAKING THE 1999 RECORD FOR IOWA'S WARMEST NOVEMBER. ARE OUR NOVEMBER'S GETTING WARMER? WITH IOWA IN POSITION TO BREAK THE RECORD FOR THE WARMEST NOVEMBER SET JUST TWO YEARS AGO ONE MIGHT WONDER IF THIS IS PART OF A LONGER RANGE TREND TOWARDS WARMER NOVEMBER WEATHER. HOWEVER...THE ANSWER SEEMS TO BE NO. SEVEN OF THE PAST TEN NOVEMBERS HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN COLDER THAN NORMAL WITH MANY RECENT NOVEMBERS BEING UNUSUALLY COLD INCLUDING 1991 (2ND COLDEST NOVEMBER EVER); 1996 (4TH COLDEST) AND 1995 (10TH COLDEST). FOR WHATEVER REASON IOWA HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED AN EXCEPTIONALLY MILD MONTH IN NOVEMBER. THE RECORD WARMEST MONTH FOR ALL OF THE OTHER MONTHS OF THE YEAR HAVE AVERAGED FURTHER ABOVE THEIR RESPECTIVE NORMALS THAN HAS NOVEMBER (RANGING FROM 7.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL DURING THE RECORD WARMEST JUNE TO 14.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE WARMEST FEBRUARY). NEVERTHELESS...THOUGH NOT AS IMPRESSIVE AS THE RECORDS OF OTHER MONTHS...THIS MAY STILL BE THE WARMEST NOVEMBER IOWANS HAVE EXPERIENCED AND WE SHOULD ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS. RECORD WARM NOVEMBERS FOR IOWA CITIES (EXPRESSED IN DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL TEMPERATURE) CITY NOV 1-15 2001 NOVEMBER RECORD YEARS OF RECORD BURLINGTON + 9.8 + 8.9 IN 1931 104 CEDAR RAPIDS +10.1 + 9.8 IN 1899 107 DECORAH +12.3 + 7.4 IN 1913 106 DES MOINES +12.3 + 8.4 IN 1999 124 DUBUQUE + 9.2 + 9.6 IN 1931 151 IOWA CITY + 9.8 + 6.7 IN 1999 144 LAMONI +11.4 + 7.9 IN 1999 105 MASON CITY +11.8 + 7.5 IN 1999 106 OMAHA-COUNCIL BL.+12.5 + 8.0 IN 1999 129 OTTUMWA +10.6 + 8.3 IN 1909 106 QUAD CITIES + 9.6 + 7.8 IN 1931 130 SIOUX CITY +12.1 + 7.9 IN 1999 113 SPENCER +12.1 + 8.3 IN 1913 106 WATERLOO +11.9 + 8.0 IN 1931 107 IOWA'S WARMEST NOVEMBERS (1873-2000, AVERAGE TEMPERATURE) 1. 1999 44.3 2. 1913 43.9 3. 1899 43.7 4. 1931 43.6 5. 1963 42.2 6. 1909 42.2 7. 1922 42.0 8. 1990 41.7 9. 1987 41.7 10. 1949 41.7 RECENT IOWA NOVEMBERS (AVERAGE TEMPERATURE) 1991 28.7 1992 33.4 1993 34.1 1994 39.9 1995 30.6 1996 29.4 1997 32.9 1998 40.8 1999 44.3 2000 32.2 WHAT ARE NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN NOVEMBER? MAX/MIN MAX/MIN MAX/MIN CITY NOV 1ST NOV 16TH NOV 30TH BURLINGTON 57/38 50/32 41/25 CEDAR RAPIDS 55/35 46/29 38/22 DECORAH 53/35 44/27 36/20 DES MOINES 56/36 48/30 40/23 DUBUQUE 53/34 44/28 36/21 IOWA CITY 58/37 49/31 41/24 LAMONI 57/37 49/31 41/24 MASON CITY 52/32 43/25 34/17 OMAHA-COUNCIL BL. 58/35 49/29 41/22 OTTUMWA 57/37 49/31 41/25 QUAD CITIES 56/36 48/31 40/24 SIOUX CITY 55/33 47/27 38/19 SPENCER 52/30 43/24 34/16 WATERLOO 54/32 45/26 36/19 HARRY HILLAKER STATE CLIMATOLOGIST IOWA DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP (515) 270-6907