Why do we strive to be 'near normal'?

It always feels like some sort of resolution when temperatures return to 'normal' for whatever time of year it happens to be. Like hitting the last note of a song after a harsh dissonance, or lack of harmony. 

Highs in the 70s? That's a normal May day. 

Lows in the 20s? That's a normal December day. 

But how often do we really achieve a 'normal' high temperature?

Using the month of November as an example, here are the normal highs, according to the National Weather Service's records and the actual highs recorded for the month:

                                    AVERAGE HIGHS:                                ACTUAL HIGHS:

		1-Nov	57			1-Nov	40
		2-Nov	56			2-Nov	47
		3-Nov	56			3-Nov	60
		4-Nov	55			4-Nov	55
		5-Nov	55			5-Nov	58
		6-Nov	55			6-Nov	48
		7-Nov	54			7-Nov	46
		8-Nov	54			8-Nov	45
		9-Nov	53			9-Nov	45
		10-Nov	53			10-Nov	60
		11-Nov	52			11-Nov	64
		12-Nov	52			12-Nov	37
		13-Nov	51			13-Nov	35
		14-Nov	51			14-Nov	33
		15-Nov	50			15-Nov	32
		16-Nov	50			16-Nov	33
		17-Nov	49			17-Nov	30
		18-Nov	49			18-Nov	18
		19-Nov	48			19-Nov	33
		20-Nov	48			20-Nov	27
		21-Nov	47			21-Nov	26
		22-Nov	46			22-Nov	51
		23-Nov	46			23-Nov	58
		24-Nov	45			24-Nov	58
		25-Nov	45			25-Nov	35
		26-Nov	44			26-Nov	33
		27-Nov	44			27-Nov	33
		28-Nov	43			28-Nov	30
		29-Nov	43			29-Nov	51
		30-Nov	42			30-Nov	62

On only ONE single day out of 30, we actually matched the normal high temperature for this time of year.

Once.
1/30.

That's a 3.33% occurrence.

A few times, we came close [Nov 3: 56/60°, Nov 5: 55/58°], but being consistently spot on with 'normal' temperatures is uncommon.

Does it matter? Not really. Monthly average temperatures can dictate the overall season, but if you have 15 days in the 30s and 15 days in the 50s, the average will still round out to be in the 40s.

Despite that, averages-- normals, typical temperatures-- are still important.

Averages factor in roughly 140 years of data, so while we may see larger temperature swings from day to day, over a long period of time, eventually an average will balance out.

For all recorded locations and cities, for every month, the average tells us what a typical day might be. That's the purpose it should serve, and actually matching those figures isn't something we need to strive for.