Washington County set some new temperature records in November. The Washington Mesonet station south of Washington recorded a high temperature of 82 degrees on Nov. 3, which broke the previous record of 81 degrees set in 1978. On Nov. 20 the temperature was 74 degrees, which broke the 1990 record of 69 degrees.
The county is also in severe drought, according to last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor. Knapp said last week’s rain, which brought November’s total to 2.21 inches, will likely improve the drought situation some and move the county up one level to moderate drought.
The county is four inches below normal for precipitation this year. The year-to-date precipitation total at Washington is 27.75 inches, while normal todate is 31.79 inches.
The winter outlook for Washington County, which includes the months of December, January and February, is neutral, according to Mary Knapp at K-State’s Weather Data Library. She said temperatures are equally likely to be above or below normal, and precipitation is equally likely to be above or below normal. Areas to the southwest are slightly more likely to be above normal in temperature with below normal precipitation. Farther north favors a cooler and wetter than normal winter, she said.
Some meteorologists are predicting a drier than normal winter with the drought possibly expanding. January and February could also be cold with below normal temperatures extending into March.