Although it is quite rare, the Fargo-Moorhead area does occasionally experience 90-degree temperatures in October.
The most recent time was 17 years ago on Oct. 6, 1993. The other 90-degree October afternoons were in 1992, 1963, 1922, 1910 and 1897, for a total of six times since record keeping began in 1881.
Dry soil is an effective absorber of solar radiation and is usually an important contributor to unusually hot weather in spring, summer or fall. Since 1993, there have been no 90-degree days in October and not coincidentally, our weather has been consistently rainy.
However, the longest period between 90-degree days in October was 41 years, from 1922 through 1963. This period includes the extremely dry 1930s, illustrating that it can be scientifically dangerous to jump to what appear to be logical conclusions when dealing with sparse weather data.
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