Here in North Texas it's common to get a resurgence of summer in mid-September.
With the return of the mid 90s this week, it may be just enough to irk the fall-lover in all of us, especially since we've already had a legitimate taste of fall.
However, history indicates that the 90s hang around for much of September. In fact, the final record high over 100 isn't until Oct. 3 (106). The good news, though, is that we're not expecting any record-breaking heat like that anytime soon.
The official start of fall is next Friday, Sept. 22. However, it looks like we'll be waiting well beyond that for a return of fall conditions. The 6 to 10 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center shows well above normal temperatures into the second half of September. Since our normal high for this time of year is in the upper 80s, we can expect low to mid 90s for at least the next 10 days.
October is typically when we make some serious headway in cooling things down. The normal high at D/FW International Airport drops into the mid 70s by Oct. 26. And if you're a fan of cool nights, you'll be pleased to know the normal low drops into the 50s by Oct. 8. These stats are based on data over the past 30 years.
As for the change in seasons and when to expect another big cool-down, the answer is in the wind. This time of year a shift in the wind direction from south to north is almost always certain to bring a cool weather change.
Research data from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality shows the average wind direction in DFW over an 8-year span for a particular month. For September, it's predominantly out of the south.
In the months of October, November, and December, a north wind begins to take over.
The shift to a north wind is key in bringing the cool weather to Texas. Hopefully this is intuitive, but it really is that simple, especially during the fall and winter months.
So if you're itching to break out the autumn wardrobe and sip on pumpkin-spice lattes in the nippy air, you'll be waiting awhile longer.
I'm optimistic though if you find yourself in this category. After all, the earth is still rotating around the sun and perfectly tilted on its axis. This means that regardless of the extent of global warming, the seasons will still change and fall is coming...eventually.
