Signs Of Autumn Amid A Warm Pattern

A scene from last autumn in Vermont. We had a taste
of autumn weather yesterday and last night and it won't 
be long before it looks like this again.

 Well, that was an introduction to fall!

We're not setting any records, but we definitely are feeling the effects of autumn closing in, to quote the Bob Seger song.

Yesterday's high temperature of 67 degrees in Burlington was the coolest since June 23.  This morning's low in Burlington was under 50 degrees for the first time June 20.  

It was 34 degrees in the perennial cold spot Saranac Lake, New York, and it was 37 degrees in Island Pond. 

I noticed in my travels yesterday quite a few spots of fall color amid the greenery of late summer.

Going forward, as is typical of September, we're going to rock back and forth between summer and autumn for awhile. 

Temperatures will zoom upward well into the 70s by this afternoon, and be back at summertime levels in the low 80s for most of us by Saturday afternoon.

Then a cold front looks like it might make things pretty contrasty in Vermont Sunday. Highs in the north will only be in the 60s again, but back in the 80s in southern Vermont. 

I'm unfortunately not impressed by the amount of rain that will come with this cold front. Most of us will receive less than a tenth of an inch. There is a glimmer of hope for southern Vermont, which is the driest part of the state. 

That front might stall out on Sunday night and Monday, and if things work out, could bring a fair amount of rain. Maybe. If that happens, it might ruin Labor Day plans, but still provide needed moisture. Rain is less likely north with this. 

Stalled fronts are tricky to forecast, so meteorologist will be keeping an eye on it.

As we go through the week, we'll return once again to summer. Temperatures later in the week will pop up into the low 80s again, and humidity looks like it might begin to creep upwards as well.

ELSEWHERE

If you are really done with summer, you should be glad you don't live in the western third of the United States. A record heat wave has taken hold, and will continue through the Labor Day weekend at least. 

Record highs were already established this week from Montana to southern California. On Wednesday, Anaheim, California reached 112 degrees, its hottest temperature on record for the entire month of August.

Death Valley reached 123 degrees Wednesday, also its hottest August day on record. It could reach 126 degrees there Monday or Tuesday. If it does, it will set a record for the hottest temperature anywhere on Earth in September.

Nights are staying hot in this long heat wave, so people are not seeing any relief. That raises the risk of people, especially the elderly, of having heat related illnesses or deaths.  Wildfires are breaking out in the hot, dry conditions, and those are expected to worsen over the weekend. 

Heat waves do sometimes hit the western U.S. in September, but this one is much worse than past episodes of late season hot weather. 

After a remarkably quiet month of August in the tropical Atlantic, there are signs of life out there now. Tropical Storm Danielle formed yesterday and will soon be a hurricane. It formed and is pretty far north, at about the same latitude as Delaware.

But it's way, way out in the central Atlantic. It'll meander around aimlessly for a few days then head north into colder waters and die. At least that's the current forecast.  Much further south, a disorganized mess of showers and storms could eventually turn into a tropical storm near the Leeward Islands.