Autumn starts today
September 21st, 2008 at 11:59 pm by Bill Steffen under Bill's Blog
Fall officially arrives today at 11:44 AM. On the Equinox, the sun is directly overhead at solar noon over a line we call the Equator, which divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres The word “Equinox” means “equal night” and every point on the globe has 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime (well, twilight and nighttime). Now, if you see the sunrise and sunset times for today, they don’t quite come out to 12 hours even. That’s because of two things. We don’t measure sunrise and sunset from the middle of the sun. Sunrise occurs when the first tip of the sun comes up over a totally flat horizon. Sunset is when the last tip of the sun disappears over a totally flat horizon. Also, light bends a tiny bit as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere. So we gain a couple minutes that way. What a weekend! We made 80 degrees on Saturday in GRR, AZO and BTL! We got a few showers northeast of Mt. Pleasant as I suspected Saturday PM. Sunday the low clouds and fog burnt off and we had a fantastic PM. I took the kayak to Gun Lake and had a nice 2.5 hour paddle. The high Sunday was 74 and we should stay warmer than normal this week with highs in the 70s. It’ll be another dry week…an outside chance of a shower mid-week with a very weak front. Enjoy the weather while we’ve got it.
It looks like the mild weather will be around for at least another week. I have been really enjoying the past couple of days (sunshine from start to finish)!! What does October and beyond hold for us? ENJOY the beautiful weather while we have it!
Dan
Good Bye summer, lets enjoy fall…..cooler weather!
ENJOY!
Its time to shed a tear..such a short time summer is. Of coures in my way of thinking fall is September, October, And November. Ect. So the way I look at it we have been in fall for 19 days already…I now have a cool 48° (just to back me up) Lets hope we have a nice warm fall and maybe the NWS long range guess will be right and we will have a (above average winter)
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=3
But remember in the the NWS is warm bisas for some reason (in the colder months) SlimJim
I love fall! Bring it on…
We recently sold out home and will be moving to Denver, CO end of October. I’m very very happy that I will not have to deal with MI winters (especially lake effect snow) again!!! Bring on the Colorado sun.
Congrats on selling your home in this market, Daniel! Hope you stay connected on Bill’s blog – don’t be too fooled – Denver has some pretty wicked weather!
This weather is sooooooooooooooooo PERFECT!!!! Lovin’ every min of it & glad it’ sticking around for the weekend!
This weather has been fantastic!!!!
I saw a ring around the moon the other night.. does the old folk tale mean anything.. BAD weather coming?? Are the folk lore stories of a black colored wooly worm meaing long hard winter true?? My granny said the wooly worm was the best indicator around.. she lived to be in her 90’s and believed it to be true.
This weekend beats last one hands down. Folks here having a festival appreciate the wonderful temps.. THANKS!!
Denver? Daniel – you think Michigan has wild weather? Wait till you experience the weather in Denver, you’ll be wishing you were back in Michigan! I have a friend who lived in Denver for about a year. He’s a pastor at my former church. He said it was typical to wake up in the morning to 60 degree weather and by nightfall of the same day, go to bed to a foot of snow outside. You’re in for a “treat”!
Yes Marti there can be wild swings in the Rocky Mountains. But for the most part they and a much nicer winter weather then we do. Much mote sunshine. and while it can get cold and snowy, it also gets warm and sunny, or cold and sunny. In the winter the ave Hi temp is in the low to mid 40’s and the average low is in the upper teens to low 20’s. But they can and do have a large day to day swings. Here I have 52 and sunny for the last “official Saturday” of summer (in my book summer ended the first of September) SlimJim
Bill, what beach is that a photo of? It looks marvelous. Wish I was there. LOL
Can’t wait for fall! I love the fall colors and the sounds of geese! I’m excited about fall!
I was all over 1/2 the UP for 3 days last weekend. The colors were just starting in the high ground,and the Maples were close to 45% in the swampy areas. Seen 2 big flocks of Geese heading southward. Seen 2 coyote, One cow Moose,deer,porkypine and one black bear. The bear was in the freezer at the cabin. Also seen 3 Elk down by Alanta,MI. It did rain some and i was complaining about all the clouds not knowing that back home people were building Arks. Marquette got 2.21 inches of rain over the weekend.
Sounds like fun Vincent, you have put some miles on this year!!!
Im ready for a trip to da UP…in Jan…hahaha
Interesting….although I think chances are very low…here!
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html
something new in the tropics to watch for the east coast?
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
awesome..
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mqt/
been a busy year for tornadoes and killer tornadoes..
http://kamala.cod.edu/spc/latest.nwus21.KWNS.html
now this is a storm chaser…insane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ny_gFPn2L0&eurl=http://www.tornadovideos.net/
Good.Let it freeze in DA UP. That will really get the fall colors coming out.I already have another trip planed for there soon. Last year of the months of Aug,Sep,and Oct i went north of the BIG MAC Bridge 8 times. By doing that the fall color season seemed to last forever. This will be my last trip this year. Got to finish cutting my firewood. Im feeling this winter is gonna be harsh.Real nasty.
I like a good thunderstorm to get the blood going,but u wont see me standing out in a storm like that. Crazy.
I agree there can be and are large swings in temperatures. I experienced this first hand this past March where is snowed overnight (couple of inches) and then the next day it was sunny and in the 50’s. Its not that I dont like snow, it’s the fact that it can be so sunny in the winter as compared to the 2 – 3 weeks straight we can go here in MI w/o seeing the sun (aka…cabin fever). I will miss MI (most noteably the lakes in the summer); but look forward to the adventures and skiing/outdoor opportunities in CO.
Its a real nice mid/late September day today…too bad it could not stay like this untill next May…now that would be great…Yes Bob winter comes early to the UP of Michigan…And Daniel I think you will like it in CO, You will get much more sun then here in Michigan and they have a lot of warm days in the winter to off set the cold ones (of course higher in the mountans it says colder longer) SlimJim
And for Bob and the rest of the frigidaires, while I do not put a lot of confidence in to it. The NWS long rannge guess for the upcoming winter is (as they generaly do) calling for above average temps….
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=4
I hope they are right, but I think they they keep showing the same winter long range guess over and over again (thinking sooner or later they will be right) SlimJim
Bill,
Any early word on the upcoming winter forecast?
off topic, but before i go off topice, nice t storms to the north..
now off topic,,,
thought I would share some pics of the Luau, we had on storm day Aug 23, funny, no pic’s were took of the t storm??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSICGSXgZEI
the very last pic is a pic of Craig H, myself and Justin the ‘pig guy”
Hi Bill-
What can you tell me about this winter, based on what you have seen so far? I can save $25.00 by getting my snow plow service by October 1 and my Dutch self really wants to save as much as possible. Any advice??? Thanks!
No weather going on around here right now. In longer term and national weather, Joe Bastardi is increasingly concerned about one or two tropical systems affecting the east coast in the next week or so, and he is hinting that both the hurricane season and water temp profiles are indicating a colder or much colder than normal December in the plains and great lakes.
Also, this morning’s run of the GFS brings in a cold upper low and the first snow flakes of the season on the first weekend of October. Probably won’t happen, but it’s nice to see a hint of snow out there.
Happy Fall everyone.
When are you going to be putting up the Fall color map/reports?
Gee cold and snow for December..well lets hope it only last a month or so (like back in Dec of 1989) when it was cold in December and then warmed up the rest of the winter…Nice day today warm and sunny would like to keep this untill next May…SlimJim
My husband & I took a quick trip to Juneau, Wisconsin to visit our son & daughter-in-law over the weekend. Chicago still had some on ramps and exit ramps closed due to flooding. I’m really glad we didn’t travel a week earlier!
We saw some trees with changing leaves as we came home. Lots of soybean fields are looking like they’re getting close to being ready for harvest.
I was checking that Model out Michael…..I sent it to Craig H ..yesterday….of course the model flip flop was there between models, bit I sure njoyed seeing that 540 line in MI
How can we find out when each area of Michigan will be at it’s peak color this fall? I was thinking of going up Nothern to make the scenic drive through the tunnel of trees from Harbor Springs to Cross Village.
http://www.michigan.org/Places-to-Go/Tours-and-Trails/Fall-Color-Tours/Default.aspx?m=9;1