Record Watch: October 17, 2018

So we set a new record today, and for the first time in a while it was for a really warm day instead of a really cold one.

On October 17th we set a new record High temperature of 24.7°C.

That was our warmest day since September 6th at 26.1°C, and also our only 20°C day since September 6th. And if we go a little further back, since August 22nd the only 2 days to hit 24°C were September 7th and October 17th.

On August 9th we'd also set a record for warmest-High, at 34.5°C. But then more recently we'd set records for coldest-Highs, on August 12th at 11.6°C and September 13th at 1.3°C.


October 17th History

The previous High temperature record for October 17th had been 22.8°C, set in both 1901 and 1903.

The last time that we had an October 17th which hit 20°C was way back in 1963m at 22.2°C. Although last year was pretty warm, with October 17th 2007 hitting 19.8°C.


The Week of October 14th Through 20th

This chart shows the 50 warmest temperatures for the week of October 14-20.

October 17th is just one day, and when we look at the rest of this week most of the days have higher records. The coolest record for this week is the 19th, down at 22.8°C. But the record for October 14th is way up at 28.3°C, set in 1945.

Looking at the breakdown of this Top-50 by decade, the 2010's only have 2 days, the 2000's had 0 days, and the 1990's and 1980's each only had one. In comparison, if we go further back the 1920's and 1960's each had 8 days in the Top-50, and the 1960's were the leader with 9 days.


Late October Warm Days

So this was a pretty warm day for mid-late October.

In the last 20 years there have only been 5 other days over 20°C this late in October:

• 22°C on Oct 20 2014
• 25°C on Oct 24 2007
• and in 1999, 21°C on Oct 19, 22°C on Oct 22, and 21°C on Oct 23

How Often Do We Set Records?

Today's record feels likes it's worth celebrating because we had such an unrelentingly cold September and early October. But setting a new High temperature record is not particularly uncommon.

On average we set about 4 new records each year. So far in 2018 we've only set two, with August 9th at 34.5°C and now October 17. In 2017 we set 4, in 2016 we set 6, and in 2015 we set 5.

Last year we looked at this in detail in How Often Does Edmonton Break Temperature Records?