John Wheeler: Do not be alarmed by hot weather in September

FARGO — Our weather office has received a great many inquiries this week as to the warm, humid, stormy weather this week. Why is it hot weather in the fall? What is the cause? Will September always be warm like this forever? Most of these questions are related to the fact that most of us have really poor weather memories. Last year, it was very warm in September and early October and in the past there have been many instances of very warm, summery weather happening well into fall.

It is not because of El Niño or La Niña or global warming or anything big like that. It is just a warmer-than-average period of weather during a transitional time of the year. Weather like this week in summer is a heat wave.



In winter, it's an unusually mild spell. Only in a transitional month like September does it seem like an out-of-season experience. In reality, it is just a warm spell and it does not mean much of anything.

.