By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
Glendive set a couple of new record highs over the past week, toppling a couple of long-standing records as a late fall “Indian summer” settled over the region.
High temperatures have been reaching the 60s and 70s during the day over the course of the first week of November. On Friday, Nov. 3 and Saturday, Nov. 4, Glendive set new record highs for those dates, with the mercury topping out at 76 degrees on both days, according to Rex Morgan with the National Weather Service’s Glasgow reporting station.
The previous records for those dates had stood for a very long time. The prior record for Nov. 4 was 73 degrees, set back in 1945 just after the end of World War II. The previous record for Nov. 5 had stood for exactly a century. The former record was 72 degrees, set way back in 1916 while World War I was raging in Europe.
High temperatures are forecasted to remain in the mid to upper 60s through this weekend, continuing the warm trend. According to Morgan, high temperatures the first week of November in Glendive are typically in the low 50s, falling to the mid-40s by the second week of the month.
Morgan said while the winter outlook for the region is bleak, the month of November is expected to remain fairly balmy, though highs are expected to dip into the mid 40s next week, approaching closer to normal.
“The November forecast looks to be warmer than normal for the month with below average precipitation,” Morgan said.
No recordable precipitation has fallen in Glendive – or much of anywhere in the entire state, Morgan said – since November began. The month is one of the drier ones out of the year already, with an average precipitation in Glendive for the month of just 0.45 inches.
As for what’s specifically causing the current warm trend, Morgan said it’s primarily the result of the polar air mass shifting away from its usual location, which is allowing a ridge of high pressure to remain “firmly in place” over the region.
“The low (pressure system) that is ordinarily around the poles has shifted slightly to the southeast, so that has allowed for those high pressures to really amplify over the Pacific Northwest,” he said.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.