It was a dark and gloomy October ...

By BILL McAULIFFE, Star Tribune

Last update: October 30, 2009 - 8:38 PM

Light Therapy Products in Stillwater is normally a quiet place, selling light boxes and "dawn simulators" over the Internet to people around the world who feel blue when the weather's gray.

So when five people came browsing through the showroom one day this week, owner Sarah Hamel knew the fight against gloom had gone local.

"It's definitely weather-related," Hamel said. "Some of them are saying it's been hard just to get out of bed."

Indeed, October in the Twin Cities has been the gloomiest since 1963, when a solar radiation detection device at the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus was switched on. Rain or snow on 19 days, including Friday, has also made it the eighth-wettest (so far) since 1891. The moisture even knocked out the solar detector's electronic display for several days.

At the university's Fairview Adult Day Treatment program, the grim weather keeps showing up in group therapy, without an appointment.

"We're feeling the pain," said outpatient psychotherapist Pamela Dehkes, noting that clients are linking the grayness to lack of motivation, fatigue, isolation and other maladies. "Instead of it being a sometimes issue, it's a conversation we have every day. Even staff. It's totally contagious."

This October also may finish as the Twin Cities' fourth coldest, going back to 1891.

On the bright side, rainfall that was 2.5 times what is normal for October in the Twin Cities will help replenish soil moisture that has been far below normal for the past 18 months.

More sunshine is forecast for November's first days. But the switch to standard time tonight means late afternoons will get even darker.

Said Hamel: "Next week will be busy."

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646

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