Summer is definitely over!
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| A chilly looking sunset Sunday evening over Georgia, Vermont introduced us to a cool spell that brings a risk of frost tonight to the coldest hollows of northern Vermont, New York and New Hampshire. The vast majority of us will avoid any frost. |
So are the Adirondacks in New York. And Coos County in far northern New Hampshire.
In those places, it could get down into the low to mid 30s in some place so sensitive plants there should be brought inside or covered.
For the rest of us, don't worry. It will be the chilliest night so far this season region wide, but the tomatoes and such in your gardens should be safe for now.
Most of us will bottom out between 38 and 45 degrees, with a few upper 40s to near 50 right along the shore of Lake Champlain.
Frosts and even solid freezes in the cold spots is not at all unusual around here this time of year. The National Weather Service this morning put out a list of earliest and latest autumn frost dates in selected cities around here.
The earliest 32 degree temperature in Burlington was on September 13, 1964. Burlington won't come remotely close to breaking that record tonight. Their forecast low Tuesday morning is 45 degrees.
Montpelier's earliest freeze on record was on August 31, 1965.
Remarkably, at least to me, the earliest 32 degree reading on record in Rutland and Woodstock was on August 25, 1940, which seems incredibly early. I looked it up and that 1940 August cold spell was something. St. Johnsbury endured four consecutive mornings in the 30s from August 25-28 that year.
It will probably get to 32 degrees early Tuesday morning over in Saranac Lake, New York. It was 34 degrees there this morning, and that mountain cold spot has had frosts every month of the year.
You might think it odd we're talking about frost tonight on a day when afternoon temperatures will ve way up in the 60s. But it will be perfect night for it to cool off. Light winds, clear skies and very dry air is the exact recipe you need for temperatures to plunge after sunset.
THE WEEK AHEAD
After the showers of the past few days, it's back to drought. And generally cool, sunny weather for the foreseeable future.
We felt the winds of autumn yesterday, for sure. The last in a series of cold fronts came through in the afternoon. The accompanying light showers and stiff wind gusts brought temperatures down into the low 60s by mid afternoon.
Strong, dry highs pressure is taking control, so the sun will shine brightly today through the rest of the week.
After those 60s for high temperatures today, it will warm up a little with daytime highs in the low to mid 70s Tuesday and well into the 70s, with some upper 70s Wednesday and Thursday. Because of the dry air, nights will still be chilly - mostly in the 40s all week, with 50s in milder, broad valleys.
Since the nights will be so cool, overall temperatures this week will come out a little cooler than average for this part of September.
A new cold front should arrive Thursday or Thursday night to reinforce the autumnal air. I see maybe another frost risk for the cold hollows of the Northeast Kingdom and Adirondacks early Friday and Saturday mornings. It should start to warm up slightly next weekend.
DROUGHT REASSERTS
Notice I haven't mentioned rain yet. As I keep saying the drought goes on. And it will start to get worse again. Plenty of sunshine and rock bottom humidity will dry things out quickly. The only moisture we'll see until at least Saturday will be the patchy fog that usually forms in river valleys this time of year.
We might or might not see a weak disturbance blast down from Quebec Saturday and that, I suppose, could give us a few light showers or sprinkles if it aims at us just right.
But that pattern of one big, fat, dry high pressure system after another lumbering slowly across our region looks like it might pretty much continue all month.
It looks like it might end up being a pretty dusty autumn.
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