Minot's string of 16 straight months of above average temperatures has come to an end, says Jim Tarasenko, research specialist at the North Central Research and Extension Center south of Minot.
He said the October monthly average temperature at the research and extension center was 39.8 degrees. That, he said, was 4.2 degrees below the 106-year long-term average of 44.0 degrees and 7.7 degrees below the average for the same month a year ago.
Every day at 8 a.m. Tarasenko records the high and low temperatures and combines them at the end of the month for a monthly average.
He said the warmest day of the month at the center was on Oct. 15 when the temperature reached a high of 72 degrees that day.
Moisture for the month of October was 2.45 inches, well above the 106- year long-term average of 1.04 inches and above last year's total moisture of 1.51 inches for the same period, he said.
Moisture since Jan.1 of this year has been 13.8 inches. That, he said, is a little below the long-term average of 15.54 inches and much below last year's 23.72 inches for the same period.
Minot can expect snowy/wintry mix-type weather through Sunday, followed by sunshine early in the week, according to the National Weather Service's forecast.