Sheldon, Iowa — Furnaces and air conditioners both saw use in October 2022 in Sheldon as record lows were set, and the first flurries of the season fell.
The temperature couldn’t have been much more different in October compared to September 2022. While September saw the highest temperature of the year, in October, record lows were recorded. Although the average high in October 2022 at 63 degrees, almost directly in line with the average normal high of 62, Sheldon did set record lows this month when the temperature bottomed out at seven degrees on the 18th of the month, shattering the previous record of the day, which was 18 degrees. That low temperature kicked off a rapid, and very short lived three day stretch where Sheldon set new record lows.
The record shattering low temperatures were almost immediately stopped by near record high temperatures a couple days later. Although it did not break the record high, it came close on October 24th, when the temperature had a short lived jump to 82 degrees. This warm up was very short lived, as the following day, October 25th, the high plummeted down to a comparatively cold 46 degrees. These couple cold days pulled the average low temperature down to 33 degrees, which came in under the average normal low of 38, and substantially under last year’s average low of 41.
October 2022 also continued the drought that Sheldon has been experiencing. The total precipitation for the month came in at only 0.42 inches, compared to the normal precipitation of 1.92 inches. The day with the highest rainfall was October 28th, where 0.22 inches of rain fell. The rainfall deficit of an inch and a half in October 2022 increased the year to date precipitation deficit from normal to 10.4 inches below normal to finish out the month.
October is when the official weather data begins recording snowfall for the season, and although October 2022 did not receive any measurable snowfall, compared to the 0.8 inches of normal snow, Sheldon did see some snow fly through the air around the noon hour on October 14th.
