Fall Arrives Tomorrow, Wet & Cold For Some

Happy Monday!

Wow what a busy weather map today...you can clearly see signs of the pending fall arrival this week by looking at the western US. A slew of frost, freeze and even a few winter weather advisories color the map.



As I type, it is 44 degrees in Denver with a chilly rain falling. Drive up the road less than 100 miles and it gets even colder with 37 degrees and light rain in Cheyenne, Wyoming!

I absolutely love this time of the year. And am going to patiently sit by the window tonight to see if a flake or two of snow tries to mix in with the rain as we see our first overnight lows in the mid to upper 30s since last spring in the Mile High City.

Elsewhere...you might be thinking of building a boat if you live in the southeast, especially across the northern half of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.

Click here to read a summary out of the Atlanta area, where over 4 inches of rain has been recorded in just 2 days.

Click here to read flash flooding reports out of central Alabama.

These weren't the only states that saw a lot of rain, with the rain gauges across Oconee County, South Carolina also getting a workout. One CoCoRaHS observer there checked in with 8.92 inches of rain. Absolutely amazing!

This is that same area of disturbed weather that dropped so much rain over Texas, Arkansas and vicinity last week.

Rainfrog left a comment of the blog last week wondering about the shift in seasons we are seeing and how it relates to the normal. I know we've talked in recent blogs about early signs of the seasonal change in both animal behavior (esp. bears) and vegetation.

That is such a broad question and could be looked at from so many different angles I don't really know where to start looking in terms of data.

I think it really might be more of a question that is relative to local area -- and could be answered quickly by going to the climate data month-to-date on your local National Weather Service office's web site.

Now once the season change is complete, it will be easier to crunch data and compare the time period to past years for the entire nation.

It has been a while since we talked severe weather, but there is a chance for strong to severe storms today across eastern and central Oklahoma, southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri and western Arkansas.

Taking a look at the extended forecast through the rest of September, the jet stream is expected to stay over southern Canada during much of the period, which will keep the weather in the lower 48 fairly seasonal and quiet -- quiet meaning no huge, or major organized storm system. That doesn't mean total sunshine and tranquil weather however.

There will still be a few pockets of disturbed weather, such as the current scenario over the central Rockies and across the southeast states.

Toward the last few days of the month it looks like the jet stream will start to dip south, and could spawn some active weather as we head into October, especially across the Great Lakes and northeast states. That is a long way out and may completely change between now and then, however.

The tropics remain quiet, and our very blessed quiet season continues. We are just about past the peak of activity, historically speaking, so keep your fingers crossed for a continued quiet season.

Here is a little weather history for September 21.

A great hurricane smashed into Long Island and bisected New England causing a massive forest blowdown and widespread flooding. Click here to read more.

On this date in 1989, Hurricane Hugo made landfall along the South Carolina coast. Can you believe my mom let me stay home from school to watch the wall to wall television coverage? It was so amazing to me. Click here to read more.