November: Turkey, Football, Fall colors, but whitewater? Not really. Okay, sure, maybe back East you could paddle. The Pacific Northwest? Yes, but be ready to brave the cold short days. California can always hope for an early winter storm, but don’t count on it. As for the Great American West? This is drought time.

In my 28-years of chasing Arizona runoff, I’ve paddled on elevated November flows exactly twice, in 2004 and 2019. Until now. November 2025 brought 4.8 inches of precipitation—mostly rain but a little wet snow—to the Flagstaff airport, and rivers responded. For the record, here is a list of the wettest Novembers this century:

 

2019 – 5.6″

2025 – 4.8″

2004 – 3.1″

2015 – 2.8″

2003 – 2.5″

 

It helped that this November storm came a few weeks after an October deluge that sent the Salt River to 11,000 cfs. Both rain events were courtesy of cut-off lows, when an atmospheric eddy spins out, forming an atmospheric whirlpool—”cut-off” from the main jet stream winds. Cut-off lows seem to be getting more common in this part of the world, a silver lining to our changing climate, if you have the perspective of a kayaker.