It has been extremely warm. Following the hottest August on record in Louisville, KY, September wasn’t much cooler. In fact, it turned out to be the 3rd warmest September on record with an average temperature of 76.3 degrees. Only Septembers of 1925 and 1881 were warmer!

Unfortunately, the first week of October looks very familiar. Unseasonably warm and dry. High temperatures should remain above 80 degrees all week with low 90’s back in the forecast for the end of the week. Normal highs are only in the low to mid 70’s for this time of the year. That means we will be about 15 to 20 degrees above normal by the end of the week! More record highs could be broken. As if we haven’t set enough already!

The good news is that a significant storm system appears poised to strike the area by late over the weekend bringing the possibility of some beneficial rains and it will followed by much cooler temperatures as we head into next week. As to whether this cool down will last or not remains to be seen.

Currently, the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting more above normal temperatures over the next two months! But before you get caught up in a tizzy, consider the averages for the month of October. Normal temperatures for the October 1st are 55 for the low and 74 for the high. By the end of the month, these temperatures drop to 44 for the low and only 62 for the high. You see, a warmer than average day for the end of October could mean a 70 degree day! Now that doesn’t sound too bad, now does it?

We still have to do something about the rainfall deficit though. As of this writing, Louisville is almost 9 inches below normal for the year. Unfortunately, October is the driest month of the year in Louisville with an average of less than three inches of rain. The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting near normal precipitation over the next two months. Considering how dry we’ve been recently, I’ll take that.