The record setting 93 degree temperature on October 8th marked the 67th time this season that Louisville reached the 90-degree mark! The reading was good for the hottest ever recorded during the month of October matching the record that was set just the day before. In addition to the extreme late season heat, the rainfall deficit was mounting.

Louisville was more than 9 inches below normal on October 8th. By the 15th the deficit had grown to near 10 inches and extreme drought conditions had been declared by the US Drought Monitor for much of northern Kentucky. In the meantime, southern parts of the state were dealing with an exceptional drought as rainfall deficits mounted to more than 15 inches below normal.

What a difference a few weeks make! Thanks to the record breaking storm system that delivered a large area of 4 to 9 inches of rainfall across parts of Kentucky, a huge dent has been put into the rainfall deficit. The official storm total of nearly 7 inches at the airport helped to reduce the deficit to less than two inches from normal. It also helped to build an October rainfall total of 8.78 inches. Good for the most rain ever recorded during the month of October in Louisville! This eclipsed a record that was just established in 2004.

In addition to helping alleviate the drought situation, the recent rainfall has also helped to reduce the temperature. In fact, the high temperature of 54 degrees on Wednesday was nearly 40 degrees cooler than the record breaking heat from just a couple weeks ago. The 54 degree reading was also the first time we’ve seen a 50 degree high since last April.

Looking ahead, drier weather looks to return in time for the weekend. Temperatures are expected to remain cool as well. In fact, our first frost of the season may be on the way for Monday morning.