November quickly shifted into winter mode, with not one, but two episodes of snow and some freezing rain mixed in for good measure. Snow means cold, and so the average temperature dropped in lockstep with the snowfall.
The average temperature at the beginning of the month started at 5.2 degrees Celsius but has dropped to 2.8 C by mid-month, which is a shade below the average for the entire month of 2.9 C. This is unlikely to improve, as temperatures for the remainder of the month are forecast to be average or below, so November will be a cool month.
The big change is not just the snow but also the above-average precipitation after a dry summer and fall. Rainfall for November at the mid-point of the month now stands at 44 millimetres, on top of which you can add another 18 mm of melted snow for a total of 62 mm, or 50 per cent above average. There were 22 centimetres of snow in the last week, and depending where you are, there could be as much as 5 cm still on the ground.
Since the last half of October, we have received 189 mm of precipitation, which is 225 per cent of normal, and is almost as much precipitation as was received between June and September. The sopping-wet field conditions have brought the remaining ploughing and corn harvesting activity to a standstill.