Fall colours are in full force – but temps are still giving summer vibes

REGINA -

Welcome to fall everyone! The autumnal equinox is here, and as of 1:21 p.m. Saskatchewan time Wednesday, Sept. 22, it will be astronomical fall. Yes, I say astronomical fall because the fall marked on the calendar directly aligns with the autumnal equinox. There is another fall, too – meteorological fall started on Sept. 1 and encompasses three months ending in November.

The autumnal equinox is one of two equinoxes a year – a term which means “equal night.” This is because, during an equinox, every area of the planet from the far north regions of Canada to the tropics will have around 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours night – aka equal night. In Regina, we are going to have 12 hours and 10 minutes of daylight on the equinox, and the reason it’s not exactly 12 hours is due to how we define the moment of sunrise and sunset. If we said it was the moment that the centre point of the sun crossed the horizon, then it would be exactly equal to 12 hours of daylight tomorrow.

Now, for many of us, fall signals pumpkin spice lattes, warm coffees, a chill in the air and the changing colours of leaves…you know the drill, it is time to start thinking about bringing out the sweaters, wool blankets, fall coats and boots. But, if you’re ready for fall to be in full swing – you’ll have to wait a little while longer because the first day of fall looks to be about 10 degrees above seasonal. Yep, it is going to be warm out there!

And this is nothing new. September has been pretty beautiful so far. As of yesterday, the average high for the month was 21.8 degrees Celsius compared to the average for September of 19.1 degrees. So it has been a little warmer than a typical September and the majority of the next week does look to be above seasonal.

So, how does the first week of fall look? Well, it is going to be a little up and down.

On Wednesday, for the start of fall, temperatures are going to be well above seasonal. These warm temps are paired with lots of sunshine and some light winds with peak gusts to 40 km/h. A ridge of high pressure in the upper atmosphere helps with this weather pattern, as well as winds from the southwest.

However, heading into the second day of fall, there is a bit of a shift. A low-pressure system moves through northern Saskatchewan into Thursday and pulls a cold front across the province. This is going to sent temperatures back down to seasonal and bring some unsettled conditions.

Regina has a 30 per cent chance of precipitation, and if it does rain, we are likely to see about a millimetre. The high looks to be 16 degrees Celsius. And these cool, unsettled conditions will be paired with wind gusts up to 60 km/h. Friday is a little more settled than Thursday, but temperatures remain about the same and gusty conditions continue.

After these two cooler days, temperatures rise once again into the mid-20s for the weekend with lots of sunshine. So, our first weekend of fall looks to be a great one to spend some time outside as well.