GREENSBORO, N.C. — The pumpkin flavors have been flowing for almost a month, but now it's official! The beginning of September marked the start of Meteorological Fall which is how the National Weather Service and Meteorologists keep track of the transition period between summer and Fall. These are usually the three months of the year that see the most change and transition from summer heat to cooler temps with the changing seasons, but Fall officially begins today with the equinox.
OK, so what's the equinox?
Fall officially starts at 9:03 PM which is when the earth's tilt is perpendicular to the sun's rays. This means you get roughly 12 hours of light and dark in both the northern and southern hemisphere. While we start Fall here in the northern hemisphere, it's actually the opposite as Spring begins in the southern hemisphere as they head into their warmest time of the year.
So, is it really going to feel like Fall, though?
Ironically, today will be our warmest day in quite a while as we approach 90°, but almost right on time as Fall begins tonight, cool and dry air will be rushing in fast. Dew points will crash and temperatures will fall almost 40° by Friday morning.
A look at our average fall temperatures
You'll notice that our average temperature takes a big dive over the course of September, October, and November, too. Our average high temperature falls almost 30°.
When will the leaves change colors?
While Fall can bring about big changes in the weather, one of the most exciting things about the season to North Carolina folks is the leaves changing! It's a busy time of the year for our North Carolina mountains and especially along the Blue Ridge Parkway with leaf peepers coming from all over to see the vibrant colors, usually in October.
As a general rule, late September/early October can have some good color starting to show or even peaking in the highest elevations - think about such places as Mt. Mitchell, at the tip top of our mountains.
Check it out: The science behind leaves changing colors
Mid-October is usually best for some of the high-traffic and best-known spots like Boone and Blowing Rock. By late October and early November, we're seeing peak color in the Piedmont-Triad. Of course, these are not hard and fast rules and there are many factors that go into determining whether or not we'll even have a "good" Fall color season.
App State's "Fall Color Guy" recently said, "Colors are better if the period leading up to the peak display is sunny. Cooler temperatures, combined with sunny days are best, but if you can’t have cool, sunny will do." He also mentioned that most of the trees are very full this year, meaning there could be a lot of color to see...if all plays out right. A below-average rainfall and cool nights and a lot of sunny days in September will really help kick start our color-changing season and help lead to a vibrant display of colors this year.
We'll keep you updated on the progress of the changing leaves, but if you see it starting to show up, be sure to send your pictures to our weather team!
From pumpkin spice to apple spice and everything nice. Live your best life, Fall lovers! Here we go!
You can follow our WFMY News 2 Weather Team on social media for the latest and your full forecast all the time: Click below to head to their Twitter pages:
- Tim Buckley: @TimBuckleyWX
- Christian Morgan: @CMorganWX
- Monique Robinson: @mdrobinsontv
- Ed Matthews: @EdMatthews2
- Eric Chilton: @EricChilton
