Fall Has Arrived

Sunday September 27, 2009

A cold front swept through the KAXE listening area this morning, and it has finally brought some seasonal temperatures for this time of year. Up until now, September has been the warmest month of 2009 with an average temperature, in some locations, warmer than the average temperature for July. Temperatures have been on pace to set a record for the warmest September, but the last three days of the month will have below average temperatures, so it's uncertain whether we'll actually break the record. I'm thinking we won't.

As I write this, Grand Rapids still has a shot at its driest September on record. The total in my rain guage this month has been 0.40" as of late this evening. The record is 0.54". It's possible the guage at the cooperative station has received more than my amount, but whatever the case, we're not likely to get any significant rain over the next three days, so there's a good chance we'll end up with the record. Temperatures will be slightly below average, and we may see a little frost Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning.

As October rolls in, a storm system will move into the central United States and may give us a chance of significant rain. There is some possibility the storm will stall to our southwest, leaving us dry, but hopefully it will stall close enough to give us a chance of rain. We could use it. We've been in a split flow pattern for the past month with the rainy weather staying to our south and the cold weather staying to our north-- the typical pattern for El Nino-- and it could be a prelude to the winter of 2009-2010. The depth and duration of snow cover may not be as good as it was last winter, but the temperature should be a bit warmer, making it easier to get outside.