The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that several states recorded their hottest October on record.
“Nationally it was the sixth warmest October on record. Ohio puts up the warmest average temperature for the state,” Ohio meteorologist Carly Smith said in a tweet.
The Western United States also received hazardous amounts of rainfall, some of which helped reduce wildfires. It was the ninth wettest October, with the average precipitation being 0.95 inches above the average. Even the preliminary tornado counts reached the second highest on record, with as many as 146 in October. During this span of time, Oklahoma had 31 tornados, and the previous record set was 27 in 1998.
California and Illinois saw their fourth wettest October on record, the NOAA reporters.
Because of the all-time record low pressure system on the eastern Pacific, a bomb cyclone also hit the Pacific Northwest. The wave heights reached as much as 45 feet off the coasts of Oregon and Washington. Power was knocked out in regions around Puget Sound and the Seattle metro area, with many toppled trees spread here and there. At the peak moment of the storm, more than 600,000 homes did not have power.
