November 2025 OBS Discussion

[SACRUS]

 

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 71 (1953)
NYC: 71 (1953)
LGA: 72 (1953)
JFK: 64 (2006)

Lows:

EWR: 18 (1933)
NYC: 19 (1933)
LGA: 27 (1959)
JFK: 26 (1959)

 

Historical:

 

1869 - Southwest winds of hurricane force swept the Berkshire and Green Mountains of New England causing extensive forest and structural damage. (David Ludlum)

1894: The temperature at Oklahoma City, OK fell to 9°, establishing their coldest reading for so early in the season. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

 

1927 - A tornado cut a seventeen mile path across Alexandria and southeastern Washington, DC, injuring 31 persons. The tornado struck the Naval Air Station where a wind gust of 93 mph was recorded. A waterspout was seen over the Potomac River ninety minutes later. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)

1927: A tornado (at times to 260 yards wide) cut a seventeen-mile path through Alexandria, Virginia across the District of Columbia from the Navy yard to Benning Rd. & 19th St. NE and Northeast to East Riverdale, Maryland. This storm injured 31 people. The tornado struck the Naval Air Station where a wind gust of 93 mph was recorded.

1933: A cold wave dropped the minimum temperature to 17 °F in Washington, DC. (Ref. Washington Weather Records - KDCA)

1953 - The temperature at Minneapolis, MN, reached 71 degrees, their warmest reading of record for so late in the autumn. (The Weather Channel)

1955: An early season cold snap finally came to an end throughout Montana. Helena, MT experienced 138 consecutive hours of subzero temperatures, including a record low of -16°. Other locations from the Northwest to the southern Plains reporting record lows for the date included: Havre, MT: -26°, Sheridan, WY: -13°, Rapid City, SD: -5°, Billings, MT: -6°, Denver, CO: 5°, Spokane, WA: 9°, TX: 23°-Tied, Dallas (DFW), TX: 26°, Dallas, TX: 29°-Tied. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1958: A deep upper level trough covered most of the west bringing record low temperatures. Bishop, CA recorded a low temperature of 5° which is the coldest November reading ever. This also broke their previous record by 11°. It was 10° in Idyllwild, CA tying their lowest temperature on record for November. Other record low temperatures for the date included: Alamosa, CO: -10°, Casper, WY: -9°, Flagstaff, AZ: -8°, Reno, NV: 1°, Burns, OR: 4°, Tucson, AZ: 24°. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1959: The most severe November cold wave in U.S. history was in progress. Many locations from the Plains to the Appalachians reported record low temperatures: Williston, ND: -10°, Rapid City, SD: -9°, Duluth, MN: -9°, Aberdeen, SD: -8°, Sioux Falls, SD: -7°, St. Cloud, MN: -6°, Sioux City, IA: -4°, Rochester, MN: -4°, Waterloo, IA: -3°, Grand Island, NE: -2°, Scottsbluff, NE: -2°, Des Moines, IA: -2°, Madison, WI: -1°, Marquette, MI: -1°, Green Bay, WI: 0°, La Crosse, WI: 0°, Rockford, IL: 0°, Milwaukee, WI: 1°, Houghton Lake, MI: 1°, Chicago, IL: 3°, Peoria, IL: 3°, Columbia, MO: 4°, Springfield, MO: 4°, Springfield, IL: 4°, Indianapolis, IN: 4°, South Bend, IN: 4°, Ste. St. Marie, MI: 4°, Lincoln, NE: 5°, Topeka, KS: 5°, St. Louis, MO: 6°, Fort Wayne, IN: 6°, Kansas City, MO: 7°, Lansing, MI: 7°, Wichita, KS: 8°, Grand Rapids, MI: 9°, Dayton, OH: 9°, Lubbock, TX: 10°, Evansville, IN: 10°, Cincinnati, OH: 10°, Toledo, OH: 10°, Tulsa, OK: 11°, Pittsburgh, PA: 11°, Lexington, KY: 12°, Paducah, KY: 12°, Detroit, MI: 13°, Columbus, OH: 13°, Louisville, KY: 13°, Buffalo, NY: 13° ,Cleveland, OH: 14° , Wichita Falls, TX: 15°, Rochester, NY: 15° -Tied, Charleston, WV: 16°, Huntington, WV: 16° -Tied, Abilene, TX: 17°, Nashville, TN: 18°, Dallas (DFW), TX: 20°, San Angelo, TX: 20°, Bristol, TN: 20°, Dallas, TX: 21°, Oak Ridge, TN: 24°, Waco, TX: 25°, Austin, TX: 28°, San Antonio, TX: 30°. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)
 

1987 - A storm in the Rockies produced 21 inches of snow at the Monarch ski resort in Colorado, with 14 inches reported at Steamboat Springs CO. Early morning thunderstorms in the southeastern U.S. drenched Mary Esther FL with 4.43 inches of rain. Gale force winds over the Great Lakes Region gusted to 49 mph at Johnstown PA. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 - Another in a series of storms brought heavy snow to the mountains of the western U.S. Totals ranged up to 17 inches at Bob Scott Summit in Nevada. Winds around Reno NV gusted to 80 mph. The Alta and Sundance ski resorts in Utah received 14 inches of snow. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1989 - Freezing temperatures overspread the southeastern U.S. in the wake of the severe weather outbreak of the previous two days. Eight cities reported record low temperatures for the date, including Gilbert AR with a reading of 8 degrees. A fast moving storm blanketed the Great Lakes Region and Upper Ohio Valley with snow during the night. Totals ranged up to 12 inches at Pellston MI and Little Valley NY. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

2008: Santa Ana winds blew across southern California courtesy of high pressure across the Great Basin. Winds gusted over 70 mph in the Santa Ana Mountains and over 60 mph in the northern Inland Empire. The Freeway Complex Fire burned from Corona through Chino Hills and Yorba Linda. This fire destroyed or damaged over 300 homes and four businesses. More than 30,000 acres burned and more than 40,000 evacuated. The ridge was responsible for record high temperatures including: Downtown Los Angeles, CA: 91°, Phoenix, AZ: 87°, Tucson, AZ: 87°, Bakersfield, CA: 84°, Hanford, CA: 82°, Merced, CA: 82°, Fresno, CA: 81°, Las Vegas,NV: 81°, Madera, CA: 80°, Bishop, CA: 77°, San Francisco, VA: 73°-Tied, Eugene, OR: 70°-Tied, Ely, NV: 69°-Tied and Quillayute, WA: 60°. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)
 

 

2013: An unusually powerful storm system spun up five dozen tornadoes from the Great Lakes to the Tennessee Valley. Two EF4 twisters struck Illinois, hitting the communities of Washington and New Minden. 

2014: As of the midday hours on Tuesday Nov. 18th, an unofficial snowfall measurement of 60 inches has been recorded in the past 24 hours in Lackawanna, New York, just south of Buffalo. However, snowfall of 4 feet or more has been observed in some of the south towns. Depending on the investigation of snowfall measurement activities, and if the intense snow continues through the evening Tuesday, there is a chance the 24-hour United States snowfall record may fall. That official record belongs to Silver Lake, Colorado, with 76 inches, spanning April 14-15, 1921. A report of snowfall of 77 inches in 24 hours at Montague, New York, was thrown out by officials from January 1997. Snowfall measurement of 60 inches just south of Buffalo, NY

[bluewave]

29 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

Christmas 2002 was awesome. Totally out of the blue 6-8” in a few hours mostly with the closed ULL wraparound. I think the forecast was 1-3” but the low closed off in a great spot and the snow wrapped around from upstate NY. 

That was really my only time in Long Beach when a .50 of rain with thunder and low 40s ever transitioned into greater than a 6” snowstorm.

 

[Brian5671]

22 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

Christmas 2002 was awesome. Totally out of the blue 6-8” in a few hours mostly with the closed ULL wraparound. I think the forecast was 1-3” but the low closed off in a great spot and the snow wrapped around from upstate NY. 

One of the rare times backside snow worked out around here.  Had about 8-9 inches of cement from that one here...

[Sundog]

33 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

Christmas 2002 was awesome. Totally out of the blue 6-8” in a few hours mostly with the closed ULL wraparound. I think the forecast was 1-3” but the low closed off in a great spot and the snow wrapped around from upstate NY. 

7 to 10 inches here, completely unexpected. Thundersnow by LGA around 4 to 5PM. My car managed to get parked in front of my then girlfriend's house for her parents' Christmas party and there it stayed overnight lol It was a rear wheel drive stick shift with low profile performance tires. Basically the worst combination for driving in heavy, pasty snow. 

 

 

[IrishRob17]

1 hour ago, Tatamy said:

Still a few LE flurries and very light snow showers lurking out here.

Yeah, its been spitting flakes off and on over the past hour in this neck of the woods.

[steve392]

57 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

Christmas 2002 was awesome. Totally out of the blue 6-8” in a few hours mostly with the closed ULL wraparound. I think the forecast was 1-3” but the low closed off in a great spot and the snow wrapped around from upstate NY. 

December 2002 was a great winter for me in nj.  Had snow on my birthday 12/8 then it was cold and snow stuck around most of the month till the Christmas storm, then the snows we had the following months then the big blizzard presidents day weekend.

[eduggs]

2 hours ago, bluewave said:

Yeah, but that isn’t really cold for those areas either. Remember, the lows in the UHI zones are proportional to the ones outside the urban areas. Since you aren’t going to get very cold with radiational cooling if the airmass isn’t that cold to begin with.

Even places which great radiational cooling like Saranac Lake have only dropped to 19° by November 16th. This is the 2nd warmest minimum on record through 11-16 at the airport.

I'm not one to argue that climate change isn't having an impact. On the contrary, I believe the regional climate has warmed so significantly that its effects have clearly bled into observable weather statistics.

But just to play devil's advocate regarding Saranac Lake this year... anecdotally it has been a windy, cloudy November up there. The coldest airmasses have not been accompanied by calm, dry conditions. I suspect that somewhat unfavorable conditions for radiational cooling in the Adirondacks thus far this fall are superimposed on a relatively warm background.

[bluewave]

41 minutes ago, eduggs said:

I suspect that somewhat unfavorable conditions for radiational cooling in the Adirondacks thus far this fall are superimposed on a relatively warm background.

Another issue is how warm Canada has been especially since May 2023.

The coldest temperatures for both NYC and Saranac Lake during the 2020s occurred back on 2-4-23. While it was one the warmest winters on record across the Northeast, there was still a decent cold pool near Hudson Bay in February available for that brief Arctic outbreak.

That was the only time during the 2020s that Saranac Lake dropped to -33° and NYC to 3°.
 

Data for February 4, 2023 through February 4, 2023
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

DANNEMORA	COOP	-39
HIGHMARKET 2W	COOP	-35
Saranac Lake Area	ThreadEx	-33
SARANAC LAKE ADIRONDACK REGIONAL AP	WBAN	-33
WATERTOWN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-33
GOUVERNEUR 3 NW	COOP	-31
THERESA 4NW	COOP	-29
LAKE PLACID 2 S	COOP	-29
COLTON 2 N	COOP	-29
MORRISVILLE 6 SW	COOP	-28
MASSENA INTL AP	WBAN	-28
Newcomb Area	ThreadEx	-27
BOONVILLE 4 SSW	COOP	-27
NEWCOMB	COOP	-27
WATERTOWN	COOP	-27
LOWVILLE	COOP	-26
MALONE	COOP	-26
INDIAN LAKE 2SW	COOP	-25
GLOVERSVILLE 7NW (PECK LAKE)	COOP	-24
Glens Falls Area	ThreadEx	-24
GLENS FALLS/FLOYD BENNETT MEMORIAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-24
SCHROON LAKE NEW YORK	RAWS	-23
TRENTON FALLS	COOP	-23
Plattsburgh Area	ThreadEx	-22
PLATTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-22
SHERBURNE NEW YORK	RAWS	-20
CONKLINGVILLE DAM	COOP	-20
OGDENSBURG 4 NE	COOP	-20
SHERBURNE	COOP	-19
BUSKIRK	COOP	-19
ROME GRIFFISS AIRFIELD	WBAN	-18
SARATOGA SPRINGS 4 SW	COOP	-17
MECKLENBURG 4SW	COOP	-17
COOPERSTOWN	COOP	-16
MEXICO 2SW	COOP	-16
WHITEHALL	COOP	-16
LANSING MANOR	COOP	-16
DELHI 2 SE	COOP	-15
CAMDEN	COOP	-15
SCHOHARIE	COOP	-14
CALLICOON CENTER	COOP	-14
WARSAW 6 SW	COOP	-13
BINGHAMTON (GREATER AP)	WBAN	-13
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-13
FULTON OSWEGO COUNTY AP	WBAN	-13
SYRACUSE HANCOCK INTL AP	WBAN	-13
Albany Area	ThreadEx	-13
Binghamton Area	ThreadEx	-13
Syracuse Area	ThreadEx	-13
ALCOVE DAM	COOP	-12
ITHACA CORNELL UNIV	COOP	-12
NORWICH	COOP	-12
PULASKI	COOP	-12
WALTON 2	COOP	-12
FREEVILLE 1 NE	COOP	-11
BATAVIA	WBAN	-11
WYOMING 3W	COOP	-11
ITHACA 13 E	WBAN	-11
LIBERTY 1 NE	COOP	-10
OLEAN	COOP	-10
EAST SIDNEY	COOP	-10
HEMLOCK	COOP	-10
CARMEL 4N	COOP	-10
MILLBROOK 3 W	WBAN	-10
MONTICELLO SULLIVAN	WBAN	-9
ANGELICA	COOP	-9
AURORA RESEARCH FARM	COOP	-9
Oswego Area	ThreadEx	-9
BREWERTON LOCK 23	COOP	-9
OSWEGO	WBAN	-9
PENN YAN AIRPORT	WBAN	-9
HORNELL ALMOND DAM	COOP	-8
ALFRED	COOP	-8
AUBURN	COOP	-8
FREDERICK DOUGLASS GREATER ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-8
HONEOYE	COOP	-8
Rochester Area	ThreadEx	-8
MOHONK LAKE	COOP	-7
GENEVA RESEARCH FARM	COOP	-7
CANANDAIGUA 3 S	COOP	-7
AVON	COOP	-7
Poughkeepsie Area	ThreadEx	-7
GENESEE CO	ICAO	-7
WELLSVILLE MUNICIPAL AP	WBAN	-7
POUGHKEEPSIE/HUDSON VALLEY REGIONAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-7
WHITNEY POINT DAM	COOP	-6
CORNING	COOP	-6
ELMIRA CORNING REGIONAL AP	WBAN	-6
LITTLE VALLEY	COOP	-6
FRANKLINVILLE	COOP	-6
STONYKILL NEW YORK	RAWS	-6
MOUNT MORRIS 2W	COOP	-6
VICTOR 2NW	COOP	-6
COLDEN 1W	COOP	-6
ELMIRA	COOP	-5
DANSVILLE	COOP	-5
WELLSVILLE	COOP	-5
GANG MILLS NEW YORK	RAWS	-5
WALES	COOP	-5
MACEDON LOCK E30	COOP	-5
SODUS 1W	COOP	-5
BROCKPORT	COOP	-5
FULTON	COOP	-5
WAVERLY	COOP	-5
DANSVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT	WBAN	-4
SHRUB OAK	COOP	-4
PORT JERVIS	COOP	-4
MATTITUCK	COOP	-4
WEBSTER 2 NE	COOP	-4
MONTGOMERY ORANGE COUNTY AP	WBAN	-3
CATTARAUGUS 3W	COOP	-3
WEST POINT	COOP	-2
ORIENT POINT STATE PARK	COOP	-2
ALBION	COOP	-2
PERRYSBURG	COOP	-2
RIVERHEAD RESEARCH FARM	COOP	-1
ALLEGANY STATE PARK	COOP	-1
WESTHAMPTON GABRESKI AP	WBAN	0
UPTON COOP - NWSFO NEW YORK	COOP	0
BUFFALO NIAGARA INTERNATIONAL AIRPOR	WBAN	0
NORTH TONAWANDA	COOP	0
MONTAUK AIRPORT	WBAN	0
Buffalo Area	ThreadEx	0
WESTCHESTER CO AP	WBAN	1
SHIRLEY BROOKHAVEN AIRPORT	WBAN	1
ISLIP-LI MACARTHUR AP	WBAN	3
NY CITY CENTRAL PARK	WBAN	3

 

[wdrag]

12z/17 cycle in: No thread for the ECMWF first minor barely measurable snow NYC CP 09z/19 and the enthusiastic 11/30 I95 event which should soon be model abandoned- but offers some sort of hope?   EC Ensembles are not enthusiastic for measurable snow NYC CP this month  but the 12z cycle continues with a potentially wind advisory day sometime between 11/29-12/2. Right now ensembles are saying MAX G around 35 MPH then but for a 300+ hour ensemble, that is noticeably on the high side. 

 

 

[Sundog]

Euro has major Canadian cold in fantasy land

[MJO812]

40 minutes ago, Sundog said:

Euro has major Canadian cold in fantasy land

And a little snow event 

[weathermedic]

Some of the area airports still gusting to 40mph or higher on the NWS OBS page.

[lee59]

33 the high gust here

[Sundog]

Very chilly today