OSWEGO, NY – October 2008 was cooler and a tad wetter.

The average temperature last month was 49.7 degrees.

That is 1.4 degrees below average, according to Bill Gregway, local observer for the National Weather Service.

The highest temperature in October was 69 degrees on the 3rd.

October was a good time to check out the fall colors.

The lowest temperature last month was 31 degrees on the 16th. That tied the record set in 1979. It also marked the end of the growing season, Gregway said.

“Our growing season this year was 184 days long, 2 more than normal,” he said. “We still haven’t had a killing frost. The roses and mums are still growing.”

October saw 4.10 inches of precipitation.

That is just 0.33-inch above average.

The greatest amount of precipitation in a 24-hour period was 0.91-inch on the 28th.

“We had a couple more bursts on a few more days. Our rain came in shots last month,” Gregway said.

There were 15 days with measurable precipitation, 7 in a row.

Three days had just a trace of precipitation.

And, 13 days had no precipitation, also with a stretch of 7 in a row.

“There was a stretch in the middle of the month where we had a nice dry spell,” Gregway said.

Since the first of the year, the precipitation was 32.25 inches at the end of October. That is 2.41 inches below normal, according to Gregway.

The area saw only 31 percent of the possible sunshine. That is 14 percentages below average.

The number of cloudy days, 20, was 5 above normal.

The number of partly cloudy days, 8, was 1 below normal.

The number of clear days, 3, was 4 below normal.

There were no thunderstorms and no foggy days last month. Both are 1 below average.

Also, there wasn’t any snow in October. That is 0.4-inch below average.

The highest barometric pressure last month was 30.40 on the 12th and the lowest was 29.35 on the 7th.

There was a lot of wind last month, Gregway noted.

“There were 7 days where the wind was higher than 20 mph, my threshold for ‘windy.’ They had a gust of 56 mph at the college on the 7th.  They had sustained winds around 44 mph that day,” he said.

October 2008 was cooler with an average of 48.3 degrees. The highest temperature was 73 degrees and the lowest was 31 degrees.

It was wetter, also. October 2008 had 7.18 inches of precipitation. It was also 9 inches above average for the year.

The area was 6 percent above average for sunshine.

And, the growing season ended on the 19th, after 170 days in 2008.

The wettest October on record is 1955 (10.10 inches) and the driest is 1963 (0.14-inch).

The warmest October on record is 1947 (58.5 degrees) and the coolest is 1925 (43.0 degrees).

In 1937, the highest temperature (86 degrees) for October was recorded and 1972 saw the lowest (21 degrees).

Parents: Get your social life back on track! Go out “guilt-free” and have fun knowing that your children are not just waiting for you by the TV — but are having fun too!

The story of the play concerns four affluent couples who gather for a dinner party celebrating their host’s tenth wedding anniversary. So, The Players plan to allow the audience to participate in the anniversary celebration by inviting patrons to attend a wine, and cheese, party before the curtain and sampling a anniversary cake at intermission.

Happy New Year to all of our readers in the tri-county region!
While our Richland facility is closed until April, the society is still active with Friday afternoon hours at the Barclay Court House in Pulaski (2nd floor over DMV, 2pm until 5) or by appointment. We got off to a rocky start following our [...]