1. At Portland, ME a warmest low temperature record was set at 64°F on October 2, 2002. This is the warmest low temperature for any day in October since October 5, 1991 set at 61°F.
2. At Spokane, WA the first low temperature below 20°F so early in the season was set on October 12, 2002 when the temperature fell to 19°F. This broke the old record of 18°F that occurred on October 13, 1881.
3. At Williston, ND a new coldest temperature record of -9°F was set on October 30, 2002. This sets a new record for the coldest temperature ever recorded during the month of October, breaking a record of -3°F set on October 29, 1895 and on October 30, 1991.
4. At Olympia, WA an all time record low temperature for the month of October was set at 14°F on October 31, 2002. This new record stands as the coldest October minimum temperature ever recorded at Olympia since records began in 1948, breaking the old record of 21°F set on October 30, 1972.
5. At Denver, CO on October 30, 2002 a record low maximum temperature was established at 18°F. This is the coldest maximum temperature for any day in October since records began in 1872, and the first time that a high temperature has never made it out of the teens in October.
6. At Bozeman, MT a new record low minimum temperature was set at 0°F on October 31, 2002. October 2002 also had the 3rd coldest October mean temperature on record.
7. A new record low temperature of -2°F was set for the month of October at Winnemucca, NV on October 31, 2002. This breaks a previous record of 5°F set in 1996. This new record is also the earliest below 0°F record in Winnemucca's history.
8. Several locations in Southern Oregon set all time monthly low temperature records for October, 2002. They include:
- Roseburg, set at 21°F breaking an old record of 23°F which was set on October 29th and 30th, 1971
- Grants Pass, set at 19°F breaking a record of 20°F set on October 28th, and 29th, 1971
- Ashland, set a new record of 13°F breaking a record of 19°F set on October 29th, 1971
- Klamath Falls, set a new record of 8°F breaking an old record of 11°F set on October 29th in 1971
9. Two locations in Northern California set all time monthly low temperature records for October, 2002. Alturas set a new record at 0°F breaking a monthly record of 10°F; Montague set a new record of 12°F breaking a previous record of 18°F. Both of the previous records occurred on October 29th, 1971.
10. Several locations in Northeast Oregon broke monthly records for October, 2002. They include the following:
- - Meacham at -8°F - Redmond at -3°F
- - Bend City at 0°F - John Day City at 4°F
- - La Grande at 11°F - Madras at 7°F
- - Monument 2 at 3°F - Moro at 7°F
- - Mitchell at 6°F - Pendleton City at 14°F
- - Pendleton (ES) at 9°F - Prineville at 4°F
- - Union (ES) at 7°F - Long Creek at -1°F
11. Two locations in Oregon set a new record low temperature for the month of October on the 31st, 2002. Salem set a new record at 20°F breaking a previous record of 23°F in 1971. Eugene set a new low temperature record at 17°F, breaking an old record of 19°F also set in 1971.
12. Several locations in Washington experienced the coldest temperatures ever recorded for the month of October on October 31, 2002. They include:
- Spokane at 7°F breaking a previous record of 9°F set in 1935
- Wenatchee at 15°F breaking an old record of 16°F set in 1984
- Omak at 5°F breaking an old record at 8°F set in 1935
- Pullman set at 8°F breaking a previous record of 20°F set in 1951
13. At Lewiston, ID a new monthly record was established, on October 31st, 2002, as the coldest temperature ever recorded in the month of October at 15°F, breaking an old record of 16°F set in 1935.
14. The average temperature in Rapid City, SD for the month of October, 2002 was 39°F. This makes this October the third coldest on record for Rapid City.
15. Three coldest October records were broken in Nebraska:
- Hastings set a new record at 46°F breaking a previous October average of 48.6°F set in 1976
- Kearney set a new record at 45.1 °F breaking an average record for October of 45.7°F set in 1969
- Grand Island also broke an October monthly average low temperature of 46.0°F set in 1969 setting a new record at 45.9°F making this the 2nd coldest October in Grand Island history.
16. Several locations in Southeast Washington set all time monthly low temperature records for October, 2002. They include:
- Dallesport Airport, set at 15°F breaking an old record of 20°F which was set in 1995
- Yakima, set at 4°F breaking a record of 16°F set in 1995
- Walla Walla, set a new record of 15°F breaking a record of 25°F set in 1995
- Bickleton, set a new record of 8°F breaking an old record of 12°F set in 1935
- Sunnyside, set a new record of 12°F breaking an old record of 19°F set in 1995
- Hanford, set a new record of 7°F breaking an old record of 12°F set in 1984
17. At Duluth, MN, October 2002 was the third coldest on record reaching an average monthly temperature of 35.6°F. This is 7.9°F below normal. The coldest October occurred in 1917 with an anverage temperature of 33.8°F, while the second occurred in 1925 with an average of 34.2°F.
18. At Goodland, KS an average temperature of 46.1°F set October, 2002 as the fourth coldest October on record. The coldest October ever recorded was in 1925 with the average temperature only reached 44.2°F.
19. October, 2002 was the 2nd coldest October on record for Williston, ND. The monthly average temperature was 32.4°F which is 11.2°F below normal. The coldest October at Williston occurred in 1919 with an average temperature of 32.1°F.
20. At Marquette, MI, October 2002 was the coldest October on record. Setting the average low temperature record of 37.9°F, this breaks a previous record of 38.0°F that occurred n 1988.
21. At Iron Mountain and Ironwood, MI, October 2002, was the fourth coldest October on record, with average monthly temperatures set at 40.9°F and 37.7°F.
1. As of October 27, 2002 in Wichita, KS, monthly precipitation totals reached 8.00 inches. This breaks a record set in 1959 of 6.13 inches, making October 2002 the 2nd wettest on record. The wettest October record occurred in 1998 with precipitation totals reaching 9.42 inches.
2. On October 29, 2002 in Houtson, TX, a record of 8.02 inches of rain fell bringing the monthly precipitation totals to 14.65 inches, making it the 3rd wettest October in history.
3. At Lake Charles, LA a monthly precipitation record was set at 21.44 inches on October 30, 2002. This breaks an old monthly precipitation record of 17.28 inches set in October of 1970.
4. Lafayette, LA broke a monthly precipitation record on October 30, 2002. Totals reached 18.27 inches, breaking a previous record set in October of 1985 at 15.65 inches.
5. At Miami International Airport a new monthly minimum precipitation record was set for October at 0.71 inches, breaking the previous record of 1.12 inches set in 1925.
6. Valdez, AK set a new precipitation record for the month of October 2002 of 15.46 inches. This breaks an old record of 15.43 inches of precipitation set in 1979. Also, the month of October 2002 only had 4 days in which it did not rain, of the 27 days it did rain, 21 of those were consecutive from the 11th to the 31st.
7. At Iron Mountain, MI October 2002 was the wettest ever October recorded with precipitation totals reaching 6.25 inches breaking a previous monthly record of 5.22 inches in 1983.
8. At Ironwood, MI October 2002 was the 2nd wettest October ever recorded with precipitation totals reaching 6.34 inches breaking a previous monthly record set in 1995.
1. An all time monthly record for a 24 hour snowfall event was set October 1, 2002 in Ely, NV. A total of 12 inches of snow fell, breaking a previous record set in 1991 of 6 inches.
2. At Duluth, MN, October 2002 was the 8th snowiest October on record, with totals reaching 6.3 inches of snow. The snowiest October occurred in 1933 with totals reaching 14.0 inches.
3. At Marquette, MI, October 2002 was the 2nd snowiest October on record with accumlations of 17 inches. The snowiest October occurred in 1979 with 18.6 inches.
4. At Iron Mountain, MI October 2002 was the snowiest October ever recorded with accumulations 8.5 inches breaking previous the monthly record of 8.1 inches in 1933.
