The second week in October took a sharp turn towards normal with the average temperature dropping to 12.3 degrees Celsius, which was almost three degrees below the first week at 15.1 C. However, it’s still considerably above the average for the entire month, which is 9.4 C, and temperatures for the last third of the month are forecast to be above normal. The temperature reached 0.5 C in the recording box during the early morning of October 8 and -3 C on the ground – close to a killing frost, but not quite.
There was just a splash of rain during the last week so the total now sits at 12 millimetres of precipitation, and this represents only 30 per cent of normal, continuing the dry spell started in September. Since the deluge in August, there has only been 50 mm of precipitation, which again is well below normal.
The corn heat unit (CHU) accumulation has come to a slow close, ending the season with 148 CHU in October, which is a few units above normal. Even though there has not yet been a killing frost, the corn has stopped growing and most fields are slowly drying down with the sun and wind – no amount of heat units will change the outcome of the crop at this point. The total for the season starting on May 19 is now at 3397 CHU, and for those who managed to plant corn in the first half of May, the accumulated total will be closer to 3500 CHU, which is very good.