By Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Retired
September was slightly warmer than normal and depending on where you were in the region, either wetter, or drier, than normal. September started with well below normal temperatures for the first third of the month, but then warmer temperatures prevailed for the remainder of the month.
The average daily high for September was 80.7, which was three tenths of a degree above normal. The average overnight low temperature was 60.8, 3.3 degrees above normal. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 70.7 which is 1.8 degrees above normal. The highest temperature for the month was 91 degrees which was reached on both the 12th and the 14th. The lowest temperature for the month was the crisp 48 degrees on the morning of the 6th. This was the first sub 50 degree reading since the morning low of 49 on May 6th. There was one temperature record set during September. The high temperature of 64 degrees on the 5th set a new record low high temperature for that date. The old record was 66 degrees set in 2014. The monthly mean temperature was right within the expected range for September. The hottest September was in 1954 with a quite warm 78.1 degree monthly mean temperature. The coldest September was in 1974 with a 61.1 monthly mean temperature.
Rainfall was once again spaced nicely through the first three weeks of the month before turning dry in the last week. Official rainfall at Milford Lake was 3.43 inches which is above the average for September of 2.85 inches. Year to date we have received 29.31 inches of precipitation. Normal for the first nine months of the year is 28.50 inches. The wettest September was in 1967 when 13.28 inches of rain flooded the region. The driest September was in 1947 when a mere 0.24 inches of rain was the finally tally.
October brings a noticeable change in temperatures with rapidly shortening hours of daylight. During October we will lose almost one hour and fifteen minutes of daylight. Average daily highs begin the month around 75 and by Halloween day we have dropped to 61 degrees. The average overnight low on October 1st is 51 degrees and by the 31st it has fallen to 39 degrees. Our average October precipitation is 2.85 inches. This occurs as primarily rain as long term average October snowfall is only one tenth of an inch.
Our average first frost is on October 19th, but it has been slowly moving later and can be as late as November 13th. Over the last 40 years, the 30-year moving average for first fall frost date has gone from October 16th to October 22nd, nearly a full week later. In that same time frame the average growing season (number of days from the last frost in the spring to the first frost in the fall) has increased from 182 days to 194 days showing that last spring frosts are occurring earlier and first fall frosts are happening later, a strong indication of a warming climate.