Perfect Weather: In The Eye Of The Beholder But Thursday Was A Good Candidate

I paused in under a sugar maple in my St. Albans, Vermont
yard yesterday to take note of the most perfect 
weather day of 2021, at least in my opinion

My bad.

Yesterday morning, I should have issued a Perfect Weather Warning for central and northern Vermont.

What wasn't to love about Thursday?  Deep blue skies decorated with just a few lovely clouds, wonderfully comfortable temperatures, a slight breeze, early hints of fall color glinting in the pristine air. 

Kinda why we live in Vermont, huh?

I declared yesterday the best weather day of 2021, at least in northern and central Vermont.  Sorry, far southern Vermont, you had a few extra clouds.

Perfect weather is in the eye of the beholder, of course. Some people think 95 degrees with high humidity is the best conditions possible. Others prefer winter cold and blizzards as their best weather.  There's a few crazy storm chasers out there who think perfect weather consists of powerful tornadoes marauding across the Great Plains landscape.

My definition of perfection was yesterday, though. Dawn broke with temperatures in the low 50s.  That meant it was comfortable for sleeping, but the air that got into the house through open windows wasn't too cold.

There was patchy ground fog around, and it's always wonderful to see the sun's rays pierce the fog brilliantly as it lifts.

The day went on to give us deep blue sky.  Air behind a cold front the day before came straight down from Quebec, shunting western wildfire smoke away from us.  Even from a distance, because there was no haze, Vermont's Green Mountains looked, well, green. 

The now lower sun angle of September made the light feel warm, but not hot. Temperatures climbed into the mid 70s by afternoon. I spend some time working rather hard digging in the garden.  I had plenty of energy because there was no heat or humidity to drain me. 

We have so many gloomy days over the course of a year in Vermont that a day like Thursday was one to savor. 

Delightful weather can treat us any time of year, of course.  But September is a prime great weather month here in New England. 

The summer heat has relaxed, so temperatures are often comfortable.   You can get weather like thi sin the spring, too. But spring is more volatile than September.  Spring storm systems, still energized by a just ended winter, tend to give us more extremes in the spring.

Which is why you need to brace for late season snows, severe thunderstorms and bouts of heavy rain in the spring. 

In September, storm systems in general are weaker because they haven't ramped up from the summer doldrums yet. Sure a cold front can still sometimes stir up some nasty thunderstorms every once in a great while. Wednesday was an example of that.   

Those days are exceptions, though.

The only extremes we get in September are when hurricanes venture north into New England, which is fairly rare. Of course when a hurricane does happen, things go from unpleasant to disastrous in a hurry.  Nobody wants a repeat of the Great Hurricane of September, 1938, for instance.

Overall, though, September is a moment on the weather timeline to pause and enjoy.  The sky is still blue the gardens are still providing a wonderful harvest. The air is often soft and bright and clean.

While we might not have the perfection of Thursday coming up every day for the next couple of weeks, there's plenty of wonderful weather in the cards.

The clouds you saw in the sky this morning should at least partly clear by this afternoon, giving us another bright, comfortable day. 

Though Saturday will features scattered showers and maybe a rumble of thunder, especially north, it will by no means become a washout. Sunday looks absolutely delightful and could rival Thursday for awesomeness.

The first half of next week looks nice, too.

Enjoy it.  Soon enough, you'll be shoveling snow, scraping ice off your windshield while you desperately try to warm up the car.  You'll be blasted by icy winds, and you'll fall and hurt your hip on your slippery driveway. Your heating bills will skyrocket, and cabin fever will inspire murderous thoughts about your loving significant other. 

Put that out of your mind. When the sun comes out today, put on your sunglasses, a little sunscreen and bathe in that wonderful early autumn air.