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The very welcome cold front has made its arrival in full force here! Low of 46 this AM. With crisp, chilly mornings that give way to pleasant, warm afternoons, there's something for everyone. What's not to love?
Like many of you in the East, we had a stretch of below average temps during August and early September (i.e. - high in the 60s on Sept. 11) And around September 15, it was like someone flipped a switch back to summer. We roasted for a few weeks before normalcy eventually reclaimed its rightful place. I sincerely hope that we are finished with summer for good - not to say that there won't be some low 80s here and there, but I hope the upper 80s/90s are gone until next May!
I'm very grateful that we have avoided the disaster that was October 2016, which was zero rainfall and every day in the upper 80s or low 90s. The rainfall we received from TS Nate helped us out a lot; we had been several weeks without rain prior to that. Granted, 11 of the 17 days of October have had well above average temperatures, which has our monthly average to date inflated. But I hope that, if the models hold, the coming cold (or at least average) in the second half of October will help to mitigate that, and tick that average downward. I still believe we'll finish October SLIGHTLY above average, but nothing like 2016, which had freakishly hot temps.
A few trees have begun to color up, even this far south. I've seen some sycamores near peak (they usually have reliable and long lasting color). The occasional sweetgum is showing color - though I will say that it has been a very wet summer, and sweetgums do not do well with overly wet weather - they wilt and drop leaves early. Maples are still green, but lush and healthy-looking, and should start reddening in a few weeks. Oaks, obviously, have a long way to go - they are the last to show color, no matter where you are. This extended stretch of warm, sunny days and chilly nights is exactly the recipe for optimum fall color.
Last month I sent Santa Claus a protracted Christmas wishlist for October-January:
1. No 90s in October
2. No 80s in November
3. No mid- to upper 70s in December or January
4. No wildfires
5. No tornado outbreaks
In other words, be entirely unlike last October-January. Unfortunately, I'm already not getting my first wish since Athens had two days of 90°F temperatures last week (albeit neither one a record), but I'm loving how the heat has completely collapsed since, and I'm looking forward to that nice, refreshing chilly shot next week. Here's hoping it'll be seasonal on Halloween too, since the high in Athens last Halloween was 88°F, a record. That was one of seven days with record highs in Athens last October, including three with 90°F temperatures and a maximum of 92°F.
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