Record high temps over the weekend

This past Thursday brought with it many reasons to be thankful, and one of those was the unusually high temperatures seen in the area for the day and leading into the weekend.

Tim Troutman, the warning coordination meteorologist from the national Weather Service office in Riverton, said data was not used directly from Thermopolis, but readings from nine miles northeast of town showed a high temperature of 69 degrees, a record high and a temperature that’s 23 degrees above the norm. There was also a 48-degree spread from the high to the low of 21 degrees. This differs slightly from information on page 2 because data from the Thermopolis Town Water Treatment Plant is used there.

Troutman noted it really warmed up this past week, with highs of: 53 degrees on Saturday, eight degrees above the norm; 55 degrees on Friday, 10 degree above the norm; and 61 degrees on Thanksgiving, 15 degrees above the norm.

The temperatures are certainly cooling in the evening hours, Troutman noted, coming in a slightly over 35 degrees at night. The Monday forecast showed the warming trend would continue that day with a high of 56 degrees, but a cold front coming in would bring the temperatures back to normal for the area.

It has been an “out of the ordinary” November in terms of temperatures, Troutman said, and about every five years we’ll see a November like this. He further explained the current weather pattern we are in has allowed for warm, southwesterly wind flows, creating the higher temps. The pattern, he said, is indicative of a La Niña.

Looking at the next eight to 14 days, Troutman said the temperatures are expected to be at or slightly below the norm, and precipitation should be about normal. Over the next month, it is forecasted both precipitation and temperatures are forecasted to be above normal.