September 21-22

This time on Tuesday, it will officially be FALL.  Almost right on schedule, most of us enjoyed a VERY October like day today.  While Evansville made it into the lower 80's for a brief time today, most of us were stuck in the 60's.  This was the coolest day that many of us have seen since mid May!  Temperatures fell between 4-7 degrees below guidance, which will likely tell us how the next couple of days will go.  I have adjusted temperatures accordingly.  We have also entered what looks to be an overall dry stretch - one that will last the better part of 4 weeks.  That doesn't mean that we will not see a drop of rain, but over the next month we should see below normal rainfall....with ONE POSSIBLE/POTENT EXCEPTION.  While the Atlantic has been radio silent regarding hurricanes (a record that will break itself every day moving forward with no Atlantic hurricane), the Pacific has been extremely active.  This is typical of a strong El Nino pattern establishing itself.  There looks to be a major hurricane (either Simon or Trudy) that will eventually track most likely into the dessert southwest via Mexico.  The leftovers may well track northeastward into the Midwest and Ohio Valley.  Timing isn't even close to being set, but lets target October 6-7-8th for the potential for leftover tropical activity.  We see our first widespread 30's early in October, then we warm up!  With the exception of the SW Zone early next week, I am officially closing the book on 90 degree days in Indiana this year!  Indianapolis measured 27 - 90+ days this year (I had 24 in Tipton) which in both cases was two fewer than in 2025.   Now that we are done with 90's, we set our sights on the first potential hard freeze.  I don't have a time frame yet, but it will no be before October 21st.  I still believe we have a great chance to see brilliant fall colors, and we may start to see some changing this week.  Peak fall colors should be from 5-9 days later than normal in Indiana this year...which I have been expecting for 2 months now.  Kept the 12th day in the forecast to point out how cool it will be in early October.