NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
 Animated Image |
The image to the left
shows the snow cover on October 31st 2002. In contrast to the generally
increasing snowcover through the month across the continent, it
was the warmest October in Alaska since 1938, and it is only the
8th time on record that Anchorage has had no snow in October. The image below shows snow totals for the Midwest for the month of October up to the 24th of the month. Up to 10 inches of snow fell across parts of the Midwest during the several days preceding the 24th. |
| The first significant
snow of the season came on the 21st of October in the upper
Midwest, including Nebraska, North and South Dakota and especially
Minnesota. Duluth, MN had its 8th snowiest October on record with a
total of 6.3 inches for the month. Marquette, MI started its snow
season with a monthly total of 17 inches, making it the 2nd
snowiest October on record. The large October 2002 total for
Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, follows on the heels of a
record-breaking seasonal total for the town last winter
(2001/2002). Snow also fell early in October in the west with Ely,
Nevada receiving its largest 24 hour October snowfall amount (12
inches) on record on October 1st, shattering the previous record of
6 inches, set in 1991. See NCDC's snow monitoring page for the latest snow totals and the snow climatology pages for snow statistics for U.S.states and stations. |
 larger image |