A chilly Halloween with overnight temperatures dropping into single digits capped the coldest October on record in Southwest Colorado, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.

The average temperature last month in Durango tracked lower than the same measurement for all Octobers since 1996, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Sanders. The same goes for Cortez.

Weather observers in Grand Junction – who have taken, kept and tracked temperature records since 1893 – also recorded a record cold average in October.

“It’s basically, from what I can gather, kind of just out of the blue,” Sanders said of the record-setting cold. “Looking back at the last 10 years, we really haven’t had anything this cold.”

“We have these colder years sprinkled in there,” he said. “2009 was another one that was pretty similar to this round. Another in 2006. It’s hard to really justify any trend.”

The NWS forecasts below-normal precipitation, above-average temperatures and a dry atmosphere for the first two weeks of November, Sanders said.

A “ridge” of high pressure “that’s basically a block” to moisture-bringing storms in the Southwest hasn’t moved and isn’t forecast to any time soon, he said.

bhauff@durangoherald.com