@njbuch
If your DHT11 returns "nan" it means that it is not possible for the node to read the sensor, or received undeadable data, so the result should not even be send to mycontroller. You could try to make your sensor aware of this reading by using the isnan() function...
Below is an example i have found.
https://github.com/adafruit/DHT-sensor-library/blob/master/examples/DHTtester/DHTtester.ino
// Check if any reads failed and exit early (to try again).
if (isnan(h) || isnan(t) || isnan(f)) {
Serial.println("Failed to read from DHT sensor!");
return;
}
(DHT11 is from a specs perspective not the best one to use, DHT22 performs much better...)