Expect a cool, wet month

Last month, I mentioned how I inherited weather almanacs from the 1920s to the 1990s from a farmer who had passed away. Well, I also have a stack of National Geographic issues from the 1910s to the 1980s. One from 1913 had a long article about a game camera a fellow invented. The critter would trip a line that fired off a tray of that old fashioned flash powder used for old-time photography. The result was a photo of an animal running away from the bang of the exploding powder which could be heard two miles away, according to the article.

One of the 1970s issues had an article about the era’s cold snap that got researchers thinking we could be entering a new ice age. That theory has faded a bit but has not gone away. Now one of the popular almanacs was all over social media recently calling for a “polar coaster” winter this year. Where do they come up with these nicknames?

It’s hard to fathom a cold winter right now because we had a sultry summer from June to Labor Day. August’s departure from normal mean temperature was plus-1.8 degrees. July had been +5.3 and June was +1.6. Last winter and spring was far colder than normal, so year-to-date departure from normal right now is minus-0.1 of a degree.

September will deal a quick end to that warm spell. The month could have a departure from normal of 4 degrees below normal. An extra inch of rain could also fall. Through the 12th we should be normal for temp and precip. The 13th to the 17th could be cool and wet, the 18th to 20th could be sunny and warm followed by a cold snap from the 21st to 25th and finally, the 26th to 30th may be cool and showery.

Another of the leading almanacs is saying during those cool spells in September, a little snow may fly. But, they’ve been saying that for the past few years and it hasn’t happened. The last September snow I remember was 1982 and there was enough to snowmobile on for a week before it melted again.

Will we get that bitter cold winter the almanac is predicting? Of course, there’s always a chance but before any “polar coaster” can hit us, there are signs that October may be a warm month.

Dave Anderson is a meteorologist for CBS 3 television in Duluth.