Coldest early autumn weather in 55 years

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The last time central Indiana saw single-digit temperatures as low as those chilling Hoosiers this week, Eisenhower was in the White House, Elvis was atop the music charts and the Colts were firmly entrenched in Baltimore.

Low temperatures Tuesday morning dipped to an unofficial eight degrees in Greencastle and an official nine degrees at 6:36 a.m. at the Indianapolis Airport.

That's the coldest for so early in the season since a morning low of four degrees recorded on Nov. 17, 1959 as "Ben-Hur" warmed movie audiences with its chariot race.

It's also only the third time since weather records began in 1871 that a single-digit low occurred this early in the season.

In fact, the National Weather Service said Tuesday's weather was more typical of a brisk January day rather than the middle of November.

An afternoon high of 20 degrees Tuesday at the Indianapolis Airport marked only the second time since 1871 for such a cold high temperature so early.

Typically the Indianapolis area does not experience such cold weather until Dec. 16. Normal high for Nov. 18 is 51 degrees while the normal low is 34 degrees.

The near-record cold temperatures Tuesday will make the start of November one of the coldest on record. Only the Novembers of 1951, 1976 and possibly 1997 started as cold or colder.

To date snowfall and the average monthly temperature by Nov. 18 will be similar to that of November 1997. That year 3.3 inches of snow fell on the 13th and the average temperature for the first 18 days of November

was 36.6 degrees.

Temperatures will moderate after Tuesday with seasonable temperatures returning late in the weekend.

The coldest 18-day starts for November:

-- 1. 35.4 degrees, 1951.

-- 2. 35.6 degrees, 1976.

-- 3. 36.5 degrees, 2014.

-- 4. 36.6 degrees, 1997.

-- 5. 37.0 degrees, 1995.

-- 6. 37.1 degrees, 1959.

The highest daily snowfall for Oct. 1-Nov. 16 since snowfall records began in 1884:

-- 1. 8.6 inches, Nov. 16, 1932.

-- 2. 7.8 inches, Nov. 2, 1966.

-- 3. 7.5 inches, Oct. 19, 1989.

-- 4. 4.5 inches, Nov. 3, 1899.

-- 5. 4.4 inches, Nov. 4, 1886.

-- 6. 3.8 inches, Nov. 9, 1921.

-- 7. 3.3 inches, Nov. 13, 1997.

-- 8. 3.0 inches, Nov. 9, 1892.

-- 9. 2.9 inches, Nov. 6, 1951.

-- 10. 2.5 inches, Nov. 16, 2014.

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