Monday, October 19, 2015

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Flash, Boom, Swoosh!

Bob Segar once sang of this phenomenon although in an entirely different context.

I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain't it funny how the night moves
When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

Last night, or more aptly early this morning, I awoke to the sound of thunder. How far off I need not wonder, for there was little time between the crackle and the boom. Then came the swoosh of heavy rain. Autumn truly is closing in.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

September is Toast : Hello Autumn

So the last of the summer has rode off into the sunset. Sure October can flash an 80 degree day... occasionally, but probably not. No my friends Autumn is upon us and although this last summer was very feisty I doubt she'll muster much more in the way of heat. Having said that there has been a precedent for a 90 degree day in October but you have go back to the days when a Mullet was fashionable to find it. Just say no to the Mullet and no to 90s in October.

September turned out to be a pretty standard fare with one day popping up over the 90 degree mark and a few days that failed to reach 60 degrees. Our very first 30s appeared for the season towards the end of the month and that is all pretty routine. Over all the month was a tad on the warm side trending with the rest of the summer this year. As has been the case all year long rain was light with a little more than have the normal amount hitting the bucket.

The warmest day was the 11th with a mark of 91.4 degrees and as mentioned the only 90 plus day. That was however the 18th day of 2015 that busted through the 90 barrier, which is about double the usual number for a calendar year at my station. The warmest temperature overnight was a mild 57.7 degrees on the 12th of course the evening following the 91.4 high so that fits like the proper puzzle piece. The coldest temperature came on the morning of the 28th when the mercury dropped into the 30s for the second time in September to a chilly 39.3 degrees. The coolest afternoon high came on the 6th under showery skies with 57.9 degrees. This was one of two days this past month that could gather enough strength to hit 60 degrees.

Overall the average daily high was 74.1 degrees about 2 over and the average low came in at 49.82 about 1.5 over. really this was a garden variety September.

On the water side, rainfall was light. It is not unusual for July, August and September to be dry, in fact they typically are. April, May and June however were very dry this year so we could have used a little extra this past month. No such luck would be had as the bucket showed 1.39 inches when a typical mark would be 2.47. The wettest day came on the 17th when a soggy 0.69 inches fell. This was one of 7 days with measurable rain. Only two managed to bring us more than a 1/4 inch. I had 19 days with mostly sunny skies and no frost.