First frost of the season

By Russell Russ

The month’s high temperature of 78 degrees was observed on September 4 and the low temperature of 38 degrees was observed on both September 20 and 26. The average mean temperature this month was 57.8 degrees, just 0.9 degree below normal. The first frost of the season came on the morning of September 20 when it appeared in scattered low lying locations. There was also scattered frost on September 21, and a more widespread frost on September 26. The total precipitation recorded for the month was 2.33 inches, exactly half the normal amount for September. For the year 2009 through September, the total precipitation amount was 42.84 inches, which is 3.82 inches above normal. After a long, wet summer it was nice to have a break from all the rain. We had our fair share of warm, pleasant days this month. There were no late summer heat waves that we sometimes see in early September. Some people were saying that the fall foliage would be spectaclular this year due to the wet summer. We did see good coloring early, which lasted through the end of the month. Perhaps the maples let us down a little this year, but has there ever been a bad foliage year? Weather observations are recorded at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2 SW, by the Great Mountain Forest Corporation.