October Weather in Reno Nevada, United States

Daily high temperatures decrease by 13°F, from 75°F to 61°F, rarely falling below 49°F or exceeding 85°F.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 9°F, from 43°F to 34°F, rarely falling below 25°F or exceeding 51°F.

For reference, on July 21, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Reno typically range from 57°F to 90°F, while on December 30, the coldest day of the year, they range from 23°F to 43°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on October. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

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The month of October in Reno experiences rapidly increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 23% to 39%.

The clearest day of the month is October 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 77% of the time.

For reference, on January 11, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 52%, while on July 28, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 89%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Reno, the chance of a wet day over the course of October is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 9% and ending it at 16%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 28% on February 28, and its lowest chance is 2% on August 21.

Rainfall

To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during October in Reno is increasing, starting the month at 0.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.6 inches, and ending the month at 1.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.9 inches or falls below 0.1 inches.

Over the course of October in Reno, the length of the day is rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day decreases by 1 hour, 14 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 2 minutes, 28 seconds, and weekly decrease of 17 minutes, 13 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is October 31, with 10 hours, 31 minutes of daylight and the longest day is October 1, with 11 hours, 45 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month in Reno is 6:56 AM on October 1 and the latest sunrise is 31 minutes later at 7:27 AM on October 31.

The latest sunset is 6:40 PM on October 1 and the earliest sunset is 43 minutes earlier at 5:58 PM on October 31.

Daylight saving time is observed in Reno during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during October, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:32 AM and sets 14 hours, 58 minutes later, at 8:30 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:16 AM and sets 9 hours, 23 minutes later, at 4:39 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for October 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Reno is essentially constant during October, remaining around 0% throughout.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Reno is essentially constant during October, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 5.6 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on April 9, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.4 miles per hour, while on October 4, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.5 miles per hour.

The lowest daily average wind speed during October is 5.5 miles per hour on October 4.

The hourly average wind direction in Reno throughout October is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 39% on October 15.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Reno typically lasts for 5.4 months (166 days), from around May 3 to around October 16, rarely starting before April 9 or after May 31, and rarely ending before September 25 or after November 4.

During October in Reno, the chance that a given day is within the growing season is very rapidly decreasing falling from 82% to 15% over the course of the month.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Reno are increasing during October, increasing by 193°F, from 2,833°F to 3,026°F, over the course of the month.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Reno is rapidly decreasing during October, falling by 1.7 kWh, from 5.3 kWh to 3.6 kWh, over the course of the month.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Reno are 39.530 deg latitude, -119.814 deg longitude, and 4,505 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Reno contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 466 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 4,547 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (4,905 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (8,317 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Reno is covered by shrubs (50%) and artificial surfaces (48%), within 10 miles by shrubs (73%) and artificial surfaces (17%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (65%) and trees (24%).