FRIGID: October Was Record Breaking For Idaho; Coldest To Date

While many Idahoans may not have even been phased by the cool temperatures in the state for the month of October, averages did end up resulting in it being the coldest on record.

October, 2019, was a frigid month in the Gem State, according to data shared this week by Boise State Public Radio. Since statewide temperature data began being monitored and documented for the public more than 120 years ago, Idahoans had not been subjected to an October that was colder than the one we just had ever.

I remember when we had a couple of cold fronts pass through southern Idaho at the end of September, and the chatter started up among locals about this winter having the early signs of a being a brutal one. Temperatures then began to warm back up again as the month of October was ending. Somehow, those first three weeks of October in the state managed to present cool enough temperatures that resulted in a record breaking month.

To be honest, I would not have guessed it. October didn't feel all that cold. Prior to moving to Idaho in 2016, I spent more than a decade living in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, just a stones throw from Lake Tahoe, so I'm used to frigid weather. While southern Idaho's winds do contribute to extremely chilly winter months, the snowfall in the Sierras is much more severe, so Northern California winters are much tougher than the ones here in the south of Idaho.

The average temperature in Idaho for this past October was an chilly 36.7 degrees (F), according to the data, making it a state record by an average of almost eight degrees.