by Northern News Now meteorologist Dave Anderson
The stats for August are in and that month was 0.7 degree warmer than normal. Normal climate variability is plus or minus 0.8 degree so we were in the upper realm of normal. That hasn’t been the case for all of 2024. So far, the year has been 3.4 degrees warmer than normal. The main culprit for that was the Super El Nino. There are researchers, of course, that feel climate change helped skew the number upward.
There is a chance we will try to skew the numbers downward in the month of September and beyond as La Nina takes us in the opposite direction. Long range forecasters are already taking stabs at winter prognostications. Some say we’ll get cold and snowy conditions. Others say it will be cold and dry. Either way, it’ll be different than last year’s Super El Nino winter.
I’m probably jumping the gun. Despite all this talk about fall and winter, we have to keep in mind that summer doesn’t officially end until late September. This September may actually be one degree cooler than normal. Normal is 61 degrees. Rainfall may become sparse and we’ll be lucky to get an inch. Three inches is the norm.
The first week of September this year may be rainy and cool. The second and third weeks shows signs of going sunny and warm. The final week of the month will become chilly and showery. A preliminary look at October suggests near normal conditions which should be great for fall colors.
