BUFFALO, N.Y. — The summer heat is now behind us, even though there wasn't much of it. How hot did we actually get? Besides only four 90-degree days the entire summer, not that hot.
June started out hot with the first two days of the month at 90 and 91 degrees. We had to wait until almost mid-July for one more 90-degree day. Then August came and went with only a handful of 80-degree days, no 90s.
September gave us a couple of hot days this week with one 90-degree day on Wednesday. June and July were around average with the high temperatures, and August came in about 2.5 degrees below average.
Now the weather pattern is shifting once again and a much cooler air mass is moving in, one that will remind us that fall is almost officially here in two weeks (although fall has already started climatologically speaking as of Sept. 1), and the summer warmth may be completely over with until next warm season.
The Climate Prediction Center 6-10 Day outlook shows likely well below normal temperatures for our area. Also, average temperatures are already dropping as the noon sun angle lowers more and more each day.
The average highs in the low 80s in early August, are now in the mid-70s and will quickly drop to the lower 70s end of the week (by Sept 17th). The average highs will be in the mid-60s end of this month of September, and in the mid-50s for average highs toward the end of October.
A deeper trough with much cooler air is shifting into our region and temperatures will be running below average for almost a week or longer, with highs even barely in the mid-60s for some days this week. It may be late September before the pattern shifts again, but by then it will already be time to start thinking about when the snow may first fall as we head into the cold season.
More on that coming up in the Storm Team 2 winter outlook and how El Nino could impact our local winter season.
