Above image of a water spout near Seaside Park, NJ October 21, 2014. Image courtesy of Eric Wojciechowsk on Vimeo. See video below.
While the Northeast endured a persistent dry trend over the past few months, Mother Nature switched gears in October bombarding the region with back to back systems and putting the brakes on the ongoing deficit. In fact, the amount of rain Boston received this month was more than double the combined monthly rainfall total from August and September! Let’s review this busy month.
Mother Nature wasted no time in October, starting the month right away on a busy note. A strong, slow moving coastal system brought eastern New England periods of rain for the first two days of the month producing a generous 1 – 2.5 inches of rainfall. Given that areas from southeast Massachusetts through eastern Connecticut were enduring a moderate drought, this rain was much appreciated. Once this coastal storm moved out to sea on the 3rd, high pressure nosed down from Canada for a brief time ahead of a potent cold front. After a widespread 0.25 – 0.50 inches of rain fell on the 4th with even a strip of 1 – 2 inches from New York City to Hartford, CT, temperatures took a dive. The anomalously cold air behind this front (which brought parts of the Midwest its first flakes of the season) left highs in the Northeast struggling to get out of the upper 50s and low 60s. Nighttime lows followed suit dropping well into the 30s which warranted some of the first frost advisories of the seasons from interior New England through the Poconos.
While some may have thought the threat of thunderstorms were a thing of the past, Mother Nature thought otherwise on October 7th. After the system pumped up temperatures and humidity to September-like levels during the day, thunderstorms pushed in overnight. A few storms even reached severe limits, leading to localized wind damage for interior New England and southern Maryland. A brief quiet period set up for the 8th and 9th, but Mother Nature wasted no time bringing in the next system in by the 10th. This time, a disturbance rode up along a stalled boundary giving the region another decent rainmaker.
High pressure followed briefly before a complex, long-lived system hit from the 14th – 19th. After temperatures soared into the upper 70s to even low 80s on the 15th, the associated cold front spawned severe storms and steady, moderate rain for areas south of New York City. In Maryland, severe storms even spawned two EF-0 tornadoes, one within a few miles of our nation’s capital and another just west of Baltimore. By the 16th, the slow moving system pushed into New England bringing a soaking rain along with it. Since this system was so complex, it actually had two cold fronts. This second front was delayed until the 19th and led to a sharp temperature drop and highs only in the 50s. In fact, overnight lows on the 20th were some of the coldest of the month with a few spots recording their first freeze of the season. See the table below to learn more.
After another brief dry break, Mother Nature bombarded the Northeast again with another potent coastal system October 21st into the 22nd. This system began with severe storms along the Jersey Shore where hail the size of marbles struck areas from Seaside Heights to Colts Neck, NJ with even a water spout spotted near Seaside Park, NJ.
Then, the coastal storm developed off the Delmarva Peninsula overnight into the 22nd, which led to periods of rain in the Mid-Atlantic before gradually pushing northward into New England. The storm intensified significantly over the New England coastal waters producing very heavy rain and flooding in eastern Massachusetts on the 24th as rainfall totals reached 5 – 6 inches!
For the final week of the month, the Northeast entered into its first extended dry period of October. Outside of a few paltry showers on the 29th, most other days were pleasant with temperature fluctuations on both sides of the spectrum. A strong coastal storm approached the region the night of Halloween but we will discuss this system further in November’s narrative.
Due to the near constant parade of storm systems this month, most along I – 95 and eastward finished the month near to above average in the precipitation department. Most ended with 4 – 6 inches of rain, which was anywhere from 0.5 – 2 inches above normal. In fact, only well interior locations like Allentown, PA (which was too far removed from the coastal storms) ended the month with a precipitation deficit. See the chart below to learn how the heavier rainfall this month compares to the dry weather from August and September 2014.
Temperature wise, the reoccurring warm spells enabled most of the Northeast to finish well above normal ranging 2 – 3.5 degrees warmer. While temperatures on a handful of nights did dip into the 30s for the first time this season, only a few locations actually experienced a true first freeze.
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