Last month was drier and warmer than normal in Castlegar, but no records were set.
According to a roundup of statistics from the Southeast Fire Centre, the mean temperature for the month was 8.9 degrees, compared to the usual eight degrees — but that was still below the record 10.6 set last year.
The highest temperature of the month was 22.7 on the 4th, well shy of the record 27.2 set on Oct. 7, 1980.
The lowest temperature was minus-6.5 on the 28th, while the all-time mark of minus-11.3 was established on Halloween 2002.
“It was a relatively pleasant month for the most part with daytimes highs above seasonal average for the first three weeks, then a drastic change to well below seasonal in the last week,” forecaster Jesse Ellis wrote.
Castlegar received 26.4 millimeters of rain and 2.6 centimeters of snow, which was slightly more than half the norm. The rainiest October was in 2016 and the driest in 2002.
Ellis noted last month was a lot different than the same time last year, which saw above-average temperatures and no frost until the end of November.
It “caused a lot of problems for farmers and gardeners when the temperature suddenly plummeted in early November to well below zero and many plants didn’t have enough time to winterize and sustained damage,” he wrote.
