6 SEPT 2010 EXTENDED FORECAST

THE "FALL TRAIN" HAS STARTED.........

Here's a question I got all the time as an Instructor at Keesler AFB Ms....
"What is a Meteorological Season?"

Answer:
Astronomers use the solstices and equinoxes to demarcate the seasons. As observers of the sky and historically the calendar-makers, it's natural that they would denote seasons of the year according to celestial configurations. The astronomical definition is by far the most widely known definition for the seasons. September 22 was indeed the end of summer and beginning of fall; more precisely, the change of seasons occurred on this day as the sun appeared to cross the celestial equator around 7:56 pm, eastern daylight time.

Meteorologists, on the other hand, simply declare June, July, and August as "meteorological summer". Not too surprisingly, September, October, and November are "meteorological fall", December through February are meteorological winter, and March through May are "meteorological spring". I suspect this convention simply makes record keeping and climatic data analysis a bit simpler. The definition is not too far off the astronomical definition of the seasons, and it corresponds nicely to our feeling about seasons starting and ending times (at least in our northern hemisphere mid-latitude climate).

WITH THAT SAID - THE METEOROLOGICAL FALL HAS STARTED, AND HINTS OF WINTER ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER. AS SUSPECTED, HIGH PRESSURE IS BUILDING RAPIDLY OVER THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC AND FORCING THE OVERALL UPPER WEATHER PATTERNS TO TAKE A MORE NORTHERLY TRACK. THIS IS VERY EVIDENT OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS WITH WEATHER SYSTEMS TRACKING INTO THE NW UNITED STATES OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA, INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES, AND ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS OF NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA.

THE METEOROLOGICAL FALL TRAIN HAS BEGUN. LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS ARE LINED UP AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE FROM EASTERN RUSSIA TO THE GULF OF ALASKA. THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT EVERY SYSTEM THAT MOVES OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL AFFECT OUR WEATHER IN NEGATIVE WAY. SOME WILL MOVE NORTH OF US - SOME WILL MOVE SOUTH OF US - AND SOME WILL MAKE IOWA A BULLSEYE..... IT APPEARS WE'RE IN A 2-3 DAY WEATHER PATTERN AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. OUR DAYTIME HIGHS WILL RARELY REACH SEASONAL NORMS, AND NIGHT TIME LOWS WILL ALSO DROP BELOW NORMS.

WE'LL SEE LARGER TEMPERATURE SWINGS FROM DAY-TO-DAY. THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF THAT WILL BE LATE WEEK WHEN HIGH TEMPS THURSDAY WILL STRUGGLE TO MAKE 70F, AND WE JUST MAY SEE THE MID 80'S BY FRIDAY. THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT'S GOING TO WORK FOR AWHILE........

6 SEPT 2010 EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY 6TH - ISOLATED TSTORMS - SOME SEVERE DURING EVENING - TEMP 85 - WINDS GUSTING OUT OF THE SOUTH AT 25 TO 35MPH

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 7TH/8TH - MOSTLY TO PARTLY CLOUDY AND WINDY TUESDAY WITH GUSTS OF 40+MPH- THEN CLEARING AND DRY WEDNESDAY - TEMPS 73/77

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 9TH/10TH - WINDY WITH TSTORMS DEVELOPING LATE THURSDAY AND LASTING INTO FRIDAY

SAT/SUNDAY/MONDAY 11TH THRU 13TH - DRY SATURDAY WITH ISOLATED TSHOWERS SUNDAY AND MONDAY

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 14TH/15TH - WINDY AND DRY

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 16TH/17TH - PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY - TSHOWERS

SAT/SUNDAY/MONDAY 18TH THRU 20TH - DRY THRU MONDAY - THEN RAIN AND MUCH COOLER