Is It Really October?

We spent some time traveling this past weekend up into the Ohio River valley, and it was interesting to see how muddy the Tennessee and the Ohio Rivers were after very heavy rainfall last week up in Kentucky and Southern Illinois. Late last week, there were locations up there that picked up 7" to 10" amounts with some locations in Southern Illinois getting more than 11"! Friday's front allowed some cooler air to spill southward, and that's hitch-hiking weather. Monarch butterflies use the push of air from fronts to help them glide southward this time of year. And there were a lot of them crossing the interstate from north to south this weekend. Look closely in the morning hours and you may be treated to a tree or bush full of them this time of year.
Above is a dogwood tree showing it's Autumn color taken this weekend. Southern Illinois seems to be one to two weeks from peak color. My brother lives at the other end of the state, and it sounds like the color is peaking right now. Around home, I noticed some of the maple trees downtown by Finley Stadium look split vertically. Half green, half yellow. Temperatures are anything but October-like though. In fact you may go back to air conditioning through mid week.

Today: Mostly sunny and warm. High: 85

Tonight: Clear and cool. Low: 55

Tuesday: Mostly sunny and warm. High: 85

Wednesday: Mostly sunny and warm again. High: 86

Thursday: Partly cloudy with a 20% chance for a shower or storm. High: 82

Friday: Mostly sunny and a bit cooler. High: 78