Are you ready for more summer?
Tired of the clouds, rain and dreary weather of the past few months? Hang in their as better weather is on its way and should begin today and last at least until the middle of the coming week.
Temperatures are expected to climb to around 80 degrees and for early October that is pretty nice. Average temperatures for the coming week are a high of 69 and a morning low of 48. After that, we will begin a bit of a cool down and get back to normal.
At this point, we do not see any frost or freezing temperatures in the near future, but remember this is October and we usually get our first frost and cold weather towards the end of the month. I did see my first wooly bear caterpillar a few days ago and his stripes indicated a cold beginning to winter then a nice mild spell, followed by more cold weather. I also took a peek at the Farmer’s Almanac and it is forecasting a mild winter with above average temperatures and precipitation including a few cold snaps and winter snows.
Since fall has just begun and the leaves yet to color along with no frost, perhaps it’s a bit too early to worry about winter. Some folks feel that summer never even got here this year, although we did manage 12 days with temperatures reaching 90 degrees or better. The highest was 93 degrees on both July 3 and 4. In the mountains, our high for the season was just 88 degrees.
Since winter is still a long way off, we may want to take a look at the forecast for fall which calls for temperatures to continue on the mild side and rainfall to be average or just a little more than normal. October is still one of my favorites with the sunny mild days, cool mornings and the changing of the colors.
The meadows are seeing the last of the late summer and early fall wildflowers, and in the woods, a few of the trees are beginning to show some color.
With all the rain this year the verdict is still out on the intensity of the fall colors. Last year was very warm and dry and the fall colors lasted well into November, but they were muted and dull. The abundant rainfall should keep the chlorophyll factory open for a few more weeks, but all the rain has caused a lot of mold and spots on the leaves. The red, orange and yellow colors are present in the leaves all season but are masked by the green which dominates until the shorter days and cooler temperatures close Mother Nature’s factory for the season.
Speaking of rain, it has been an extremely wet year so far with most of Southwestern Pennsylvania averaging around 15 inches above normal. We just finished September with 11.55 inches in the bucket. Average for September is 4.37 inches. August was also wet with 8.14 inches compared to a normal of 4.23 inches. Streams continue to run high and the ground is saturated. The wet soil is bad for our trees as they easily topple with any high winds. There are also plenty of dead and dying trees in our forests from disease and old age. Care is urged when walking or hunting in our woods.
Enjoy the next few days.