As a whole, November was warmer and drier than normal for Rochester.

What You Need To Know

  • It got as warm as 78 degrees during November

  • The Rochester Airport picked up a little more than an inch of snow

  • Severe storms left thousands without power in mid-November

Winter may not officially begin until December 21st, but Rochester and the Finger Lakes are no stranger to picking up some snow during the month of November. Ten out of the 30 days of November featured a few snowflakes flying around, but it really didn’t add up to much. 

In total, the Rochester Airport only picked up 1.2 inches of snow, with the most falling on the 17th when half an inch stuck. Either way, that 1.2 inches is about half a foot below average for the entire month.

By the end of November last year, Rochester had already picked up 17.8 inches of snow for the season. The area definitely saw more rain than snow this time around.

The end of the month saw a total of 2.28 inches of rain at the Rochester Airport, which was still 0.66 inches below average. The rainiest day was actually the final day of November, where just one-hundredth shy of an inch fell.

The second day with the most rainfall was November 15th, but that’s also when some strong to severe storms rolled through the area. It’s not too often severe weather makes an appearance here in November, but those storms packed a punch. 

Gusts got as high as 56 mph at the Rochester Airport, but other spots, like Clifton Springs, actually dealt with 60+ mph gusts. Those winds battered trees and powerlines across the area, resulting in upwards of 15,000 power outages at one point that Sunday evening. 

Switching gears to temperatures now, it was a pretty warm month by November standards. Rochester got as warm as 78 degrees on November 10th, which actually broke that date’s old record of 72 from 1975.

The day before that was also record-breaking. The old record high of 74 from 1999 was beaten when the Rochester Airport hit a high of 77.

Both days weren’t too far off from being the warmest November day ever for Rochester. For that, you have to go all the way back to November 2nd in 1933 when Rochester’s temperature got up to 80 degrees on the dot.

Obviously, there were some cooler days in the mix too. But if you look at the month as a whole, the average high temperature was 54.3 degrees, which was 6.3 degrees above normal.

November is now done and over with, but if you want a sneak peek as to what the rest of December may hold weather-wise, click here.