Another Beauty

By Russell Russ
September’s weather was beautiful. It was another warmer than normal and drier than normal month. It has been hard to complain about the weather around here over the last few months. It was warm and dry, but not too warm and dry. We are in a slight drought, but we are getting just enough rainfall to keep us out of seriously dry conditions. Last fall’s super-dry conditions increased the forest fire danger level to extremes we do not often see. Let us hope we continue to get just enough precipitation to keep us out of danger this year. A little more rain would be nice to ease our rainfall deficit for the year. This is our second September in a row with mostly warm and dry conditions.

September’s low temperature of 42 degrees was observed on Sept. 8 and 20. The high of 79 on Sept. 28 was a record high for that date, surpassing the 75 from 1948 and 2019. The month’s mean temperature of 61.8 degrees was 2.8 degrees above normal. This September was tied with 1999 as Norfolk’s tenth warmest September. Frost can occur in September, but it has become less common in recent years. It is possible that a few lower elevation areas had a touch of light frost this month, but none was observed at or near the weather station. Norfolk’s warmest September was in 2015 with a mean temperature of 64.7 degrees and the coolest was in 1963 with 53.6 degrees. The last time that Norfolk recorded a top ten colder-than-normal September was in 1984, the seventh coldest on record. Since 1984, there have been twelve Septembers ranked in the top ten for warmest (there were a few ties).

The month’s rainfall total was 2.96 inches, 1.71 inches below normal. Below normal, but not high ranking at all. As of the morning of Sept 23, this September was ranking as our driest on record with just 1.11 inches for the month, but that changed dramatically after receiving 1.85 inches during a Sept. 23-25 storm. There were two non-severe thunderstorms this month, Sept. 6 and 23. Sept. 2024 ranked second driest, and Sept. 2023 ranked fourth wettest. It’s nice to not showcase another extreme rank this year. The continuing weak hurricane season is playing a significant role in our lower-than-normal rainfall totals. Norfolk’s wettest September was in 1938 (Hurricane of ’38) with 13.40 inches and the driest was in 2014 with just 1.16 inches.

Through September this year, the yearly precipitation amount was 34.39 inches. This was 4.63 inches below normal and 8.41 inches less than last year’s total through September. This year’s deficit of 4.63 inches after September is our largest deficit of the year thus far. Last year’s surplus of 7.27 inches after August kept 2024 near a normal year for precipitation, even after an extremely dry Oct.-Nov. period. We do not have that advantage this year, every month of 2025 has ended with a running yearly deficit. While 2025 has been on the dry side, it seems unlikely that it will even be near top ten for dry years. It may not seem like it, but for the entire year we have gotten just enough precipitation to keep us out of high-ranking dry territory.

Norfolk’s streak of beautiful weather continued through the first three weeks of October. The area’s first widespread frost occurred on Oct 1. Even with widespread frost occurring on six or seven mornings, temperatures were running warmer than normal through Oct. 20. Three days during the first week even approached record high levels. Mother Nature finally caught up to us and weather patterns changed on Oct. 10. Cooler temperatures and cloudy skies became more common. The first nor’easter of the season hit the area Oct. 12-14 with wind and rain. Norfolk measured 1.26 inches with only a few wind issues reported. Eastern Connecticut recorded more rain and wind. The sub-par foliage season peaked as usual around Oct.W 15. While early season colors were muted this year, we have our second foliage season highlighting the oaks yet to come. Temperatures will eventually drop, and snow will come. It is time to make our annual transition into winter. Early forecasts point to a more normal (snowy?) winter ahead. Stay tuned.

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2SW.