November Weather

The weather in central Powder River County over the month of November, 2019, consisted of a series of storms, interspersed by nicer weather mid-month, and went out with a snowstorm on Thanksgiving weekend.

Throughout the month, several snow storms blanketed light amounts of snow across the area, with the bulk of the early storms passing around to the south and hitting the Gillette region.

In between storms, the days were seasonably pleasant, and overall the month of November was fairly nice – perhaps more pleasant than much of October, which was fairly cool and damp.

Overall precipitation for the month of November was .88”, ahead of the average of .53”. Just in case anyone is grumbling about the snow and rain this year, keep this in mind: the yearly total precipitation continues its record pace, with 23.90” on the year, as of November 30th. The normal precipitation for that time period is 13.82”, with the lowest recording in 1988, at 7.30”. So this year we’ve seen over triple the amount of moisture as in 1988.

The lowest temp recorded in Broadus this month came on November 11th, at 2 degrees. The all-time record low for November came in 1959, at -28, while 1972 and 1985 both saw -26 temps recorded in November.

The warmest day recorded in November of this year was on November 9th, at 65 degrees. The all-time record for November was in 1999, where an 80 degree measurement was taken on November 7th of that year.

A snowstorm fell across the area on the night of November 29th and through November 30th of this year, with accumulations of around 7-8” recorded across the county. The initial forecasts for the storm indicated a foot or more of snow, so the 7-8” was a welcome change. On Friday, November 29th, freezing rain made for slick roads which were then packed with snow, but accidents remained relatively light – a single vehicle slide-off north of Broadus on Hwy 59 with no injuries was the only reported incident in the storm. A truck wreck before the storm, on Wednesday, November 27th, near Hammond resulted in a trailer load of frozen vegetables being spilled. The vegetables were then distributed to be people of the community, resulting in many a full freezer going into the holiday season.