Cold weather that invaded the ETR at the end of September lasted there for the whole first decade of October. The temperature background to the north-west of Moscow remained below normal, with -1…-2° anomalies in some places. At the same time, the temperature to the south of the capital was generally balancing close to the normal value, and sometimes even reached new record-breaking maxima in the Crimea.
Further on, the temperature close to the normal value or below it persevered in the Russian North only, while the rest of the ETR exhibited large heat anomalies (up to +4…5° and more). Until the end of the month, new unprecedented maxima of air temperatures were reported in the Central, Volga and Southern Federal Districts. This October was the warmest one in Central Russia since 1967, and its average temperature occupies the 4th place in the list of highest values recorded in the meteorological chronicle since 1891.

In the Urals, October was abnormally warm again: its monthly-averaged temperature exceeded the normal value by more than 3°.
An entirely different picture was observed in Siberia and in the Far East. Cold weather of the first decade (with anomalies down to -4° in Kolyma) first gave its way to conditions close to normal, and then to extremely warm weather with anomalies of decade-averaged temperatures as high as +5…10°. New records of warmth were reported in Yakutia, Primorye, Sakhalin and Arctic. On the other hand, winter has already come to Chukotka where the first -30° frosts took place at the end of the month.
In overall, October was very warm in Russia. Its average temperature was right below the first five of highest-ranked values for 129 years of meteorological observations. The monthly-averaged air temperature exceeded the normal value by 2-4° almost everywhere in the country, and by 4-8° or more in the Arctic region. The weather was colder than usual in Karelia, in the Murmansk Region and in parts of Kamchatka only.
In most of China, the monthly-averaged air temperature matched its normal value. The regions in the north-west of the country were the only ones where the weather was noticeably warmer than usual (by about 2-3°). The same anomalies were observed in Korea and Japan.
In most of India, cool weather persisted. The monthly averages of air temperature calculated for the whole territory of the country were less than normal. In neighbouring Pakistan, the monthly-averaged air temperature was close to normal in the north, and above it in the south.
In the Near and Middle East, in Central Asia and in North Africa, this October was warmer than usual. In most parts of these territories, the normal values of monthly-averaged air temperatures were exceeded by 2-4°. In Kazakhstan, new ever-high daily maxima of air temperature were reported, and the temperature was still above +30° at the beginning of the month. The average air temperature in Aralsk (Kazakhstan) exceeded the normal value by 4.5°, in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), by 2.7°, in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), by 2.3°, in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), by 2.0°, in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), by 4.1°, in Damascus (Syria), by 3.3°, in Mashhad (Iran), by 2.5°, and in Agadez (Niger), by 3.6°.
Almost across the whole Europe excluding the UK and Scandinavia, October was much warmer than usual. In Central and Eastern Europe, it was warmer by 2-3° or more. In the Balkans and in the Côte d'Azur, the air could still warm up to +30°. In Ukraine and Belarus (in Kiev, Kharkov, Minsk, etc.), new records of highest air temperatures were set. Yet, the mid-autumn clearly made itself felt. At the beginning of the month, frosts down to -2…-6° came to Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, and the thermometer readings at the end of the month could sometimes drop as low as -10° in Belarus. In Norway and Sweden, the weather in October was very cold, and the monthly-averaged air temperature was below the normal value by 2-4° or more.
On the North-American continent, Canada and the USA looked as if they were antipodes. Warmth prevailed in Canada where this October was the second warmest in this century and the fifth warmest in the entire history. The monthly-averaged air temperatures in the east and north of the country exceeded the normal values by 2-10°. In the USA, a vast territory from the Pacific Coast to the Great Lakes was seized by cold, with the anomalies of monthly-averaged air temperature reaching -2…-6° or more. The averaged air temperature in the states of Washington and Oregon and further eastwards to both Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado, with the exception of California and Nevada, entered the Top Ten of lowest values for the entire history of meteorological observations. The south-east and California were the only regions of the country with the temperature averages 2-3° higher than usual. In the Atlantic Coast states from Virginia to Alabama and Florida, this October was one of the warmest in their meteorological chronicle. High temperatures contributed to the spread of huge forest fires.
It was still abnormally warm in the Arctic. The October anomalies were up to +10° or more in its western (American) sector, and up to +7° or more in its eastern (Eurasian) one. The monthly-averaged air temperature in October was ranked third in the meteorological chronicle of this region.
This October was the warmest in the history of regular meteorological observations in the Northern Hemisphere: 0.1° warmer than October 2016 or October 2018.
In Moscow, the average temperature in October was +8.8°, and the anomaly was +3.7°. This is the third to fourth result in the ranking list. Only twice – in 2008 and in 1967 – the average temperature was higher than that.

The mean SST anomaly of the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere was still very high. In October, it reached the second highest value in the ranking list where only the value of 2015 was even higher. Yet, it was still lower than in August and September of this year.
Anomalously high temperatures were observed in the central part of the Ocean from the Bering Strait to tropical latitudes. There, the SST anomalies exceeded +1…2°. They can also be considered large in the Sea of Japan and to the east of Japan.
Abnormally cold water was observed in the eastern part of equatorial latitudes, even though negative anomalies in this area became somewhat less than in September.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the mean SST anomaly was much lower than in the Pacific Ocean. The SST was close to normal in the most of the Atlantic Ocean, but much less than normal in the Canary Strait, in the north from Newfoundland to Europe, and along the coast of Scandinavia. Water was abnormally warm in the Gulf of Mexico, partly along the coast of the USA, in the Davis Strait and in the Mediterranean Sea.

In Russia, a lot of precipitation fell in October. From the western border to the Pacific Ocean, the normal values were exceeded by two or more times in many regions. Moreover, all Federal districts excluding the South and North Caucasus ones promoted their own record-breakers: Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Pskov and Kaliningrad Regions and the Republic of Karelia in the North-Western district; Vladimir, Yaroslavl and Tver Regions in the Central district; Kirov and Nizhny Novgorod Regions in the Volga district; Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous district in the Ural district; Krasnoyarsk Territory and Irkutsk Region in the Siberian district; Trans-Baikal Territory, Amur and Magadan Regions in the Far East district. There, the precipitation was very intense: up to 30-50 mm per day, and often in the form of snow already. Snow marked the start of winter snow covering in the north-east of the country and generated temporary snow cover in the south of the Far East and in the European Territory.
The precipitation was scarce in the south of the ETR only. Its monthly totals were less than half of the normal value in some areas of the Rostov Region, of the Stavropol Territory, of Kuban and of the North Caucasian Republics.
In the central provinces of China, in Korea and in Japan, the precipitation was normal or increased. In Tokyo, 80% of the monthly precipitation amount fell on certain days in the middle of October. The southern regions of China and the countries of South-East Asia received little rain, usually less than half of the normal amounts.
India was surprising with its continued heavy rains. The precipitation amounts in certain areas of the country were 3-4 times the normal values.
Droughts were observed in most of Central Asia. The north and north-west Kazakhstan along the border with Russia where the only areas to receive normal or increased amounts of precipitation.
The weather in the Near and Middle East was mostly dry, with a number of showers coming down in the north of Arabia and in the countries of the Levant only.
Dry weather in North Africa along the Mediterranean coast contrasted with excess moisture in West Africa. Everywhere from Senegal to Nigeria, the monthly precipitation totals were higher than normal, by 3-4 times in some places.
Abundant precipitation was recorded in Western and Central Europe. The monthly normal amounts were exceeded by two or more times in some regions of France and Germany. Heavy rains caused flooding on the Côte d'Azur where twice the normal quantity of precipitation accumulated for several days. In contrast to that, the east of the continent from the Baltic to the Balkans was in lack of precipitation: there, only a quarter of the normal precipitation amount or even less was accumulated in some places. The exceptions were Romania, Moldova or southern and south-eastern areas of Ukraine where precipitation was either normal or increased. The first snow was recorded in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries.
Completely dry weather prevailed in the west of the USA. Almost no atmospheric moisture was observed from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Most meteorological stations in this region recorded zero in the column "monthly precipitation total". On the contrary, rains flooded the earth eastwards all the way to the Atlantic Coast. Their amounts were 2-4 larger than usual in places. From Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri to the Atlantic Ocean, this October may be considered one of the wettest in US history.
In Canada, precipitation was normal along the southern border and in the Arctic region, and decreased in the rest of the territory.
60 mm of precipitation fell in Moscow; this is the normal quantity.