The second and third ten-day period of October in Ukraine turned out to be the warmest for the entire time of meteorological observations throughout the country. Indicators of the average ten-day air temperature corresponded to the temperature of the end of September according to the climatic norm. At the same time, October turned out to be the warmest for the last 60 years of observations in Ukraine as a whole. The average regional air temperature over the ten-day period turned out to be 3.7-6.1 °C above the norm and ranged from 8.8 °C in the northeast to 13.5 °C in the south of the country.
The maximum air temperature increased to 18-22 °С, and in the Odesa, Mykolayiv and Kherson regions – to 24 °С.
Precipitation of various intensity and quantity was observed for 1-4 days almost throughout the country, in some regions mainly in the form of fogs and dew. The average precipitation area in most of the territory is from 8 to 46% of the ten-day norm (1-6 mm), in the Zaporizhzhya, Sumy and Cherkasy regions – 54-70% of the norm (5-7 mm). In the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions the amount of precipitation was close to the norm (10-12 mm).
Agrometeorological conditions in the last ten-day period of October were favorable for the development of sown winter crops. High air and soil temperatures for mid-autumn and its sufficient moisture determine the rapid growth and development of plants. At the end of the September mass tillering continued cultivated crops and on the late (October) crops the initial phases of development were noted – germination of grain, the formation of seedlings, the third leaf and nodal roots. In most areas, the phase development approached the long-term average. As of October 30, soil moistening under winter crops was not uniform, but in most areas it was sufficient. Despite the lack of precipitation during the ten-day period, the active evaporation of moisture from the soil was not observed due to low relative humidity, fog and abundant dew. As a result, in most areas, moisture in the tilth-top soil remained at sufficient and optimal levels, however, according to agrometeorologists, in the central and southern regions, soil moisture was concentrated mainly in the upper soil layers (up to 20-30 cm). In general, in the country the condition of winter crops in areas with sufficient moisture reserves is good and excellent; in areas with insufficient moisture reserves, there was a significant heterogeneity in the development of plants and decrease in seedlings.