2 weeks Ago
Raindrops haven’t been falling on our heads this month — hardly, anyway. For the first three weeks of September, the National Weather Service’s rainfall gauge at Pittsfield Municipal Airport has measured only half an inch in the bucket (on Sept. 7), and that’s only 12 percent of normal for the typically rainy month.
The North Adams total, recorded at Harriman-and-West Airport, was nearly identical. Saturday: Partly sunny, near 70. Mostly cloudy after dark, low around 50.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, upper 60s. Partly cloudy at night, low near 45. Monday: Partly sunny, near 70; mostly cloudy overnight, upper-40s.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, mid-60s. Chance of showers at night, low near 50. Wednesday: Cloudy, chance of showers, high 60-65, nighttime low 50-55.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy, showers possible, upper 60s. Rain likely at night, low around 55. Friday: Cloudy, occasional rain, high near 70, low in the mid-50s.
Saturday (Sept. 29): Partly sunny, 65-70, clear at night, low 50-55. Sources: National Weather Service and AccuWeather.
com The impact has been minimal, since we’re in the final few weeks of the growing season, and August’s rainfall total of 6.6 inches was well above the 3.8 inch average, based on historical records going back to 1939 in Pittsfield.
Meanwhile, Boston is coming out of a 29-day dry spell going back to late August (no rain at all measured). The U.S.
Drought Monitor placed Greater Boston, Cape Cod, south-central New Hampshire and parts of coastal Maine in its “abnormally dry” category, the Boston Globe reported. That’s often a forerunner to a moderate drought. Along with the official arrival of the autumnal equinox on Sunday morning (at 8:43 a.
m. to be precise), our very welcome stretch of late-summer warmth, low humidity, and mostly clear skies here in the Berkshires is coming to a close. Also noticeable: During September, the length of daylight drops by 1 hour and 22 minutes in the Berkshires — about 20 minutes per week.
That decline accelerates during October. On Nov. 3, Daylight Saving Time ends and we push timepieces back by one hour, meaning earlier dawns for a while, but darkness falling before 5 p.
m. The leading edge of cooler air from southern Canada will arrive in western New England this weekend, with temperatures returning closer to average for late September (predawn lows in the upper 40s, afternoon highs in the upper 60s). There’s no rain in the National Weather Service forecast for the next several days, as we’re sandwiched between two wet weather systems to our east and to the west.
But the prolonged stretch of dry, tranquil weather will end soon, with multiple chances for rainfall starting at midweek. “The expected wetter pattern will bring beneficial rainfall as soils have become quite dry,” National Weather Service meteorologist Christina Speciale pointed out in an online post . “We will continue to monitor how the pattern evolves but the main takeaway is that we can expect our weather to become wetter and unsettled, seasonably cool, and cloudier starting Tuesday night into Wednesday and lasting through the end of the work week.
” How has the dry spell affected the onset of fall colors? “Where little or no rain falls on the already dry landscape and parched ground, trees that have been stressed may put on their autumn display early, and leaf drop is likely to be accelerated,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. However, he added, the extended dry period is good news for the fall harvest, where crops have not been stressed. The dry soil allows agricultural interests to get into the fields.
The same dry pattern has also allowed excellent outdoor working conditions, and some construction projects may trend ahead of schedule. The extended outlook from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center for Sept. 28-Oct.
4 calls for above normal temperatures continuing, while rainfall is expected to be near normal. For the month of October, the prediction center is signaling above average temperatures ongoing, with rainfall likely to be above normal. Day by day .
. . Saturday: Partly sunny, near 70.
Mostly cloudy after dark, low around 50. Sunday: Mostly sunny, upper 60s. Partly cloudy at night, low near 45.
Monday: Partly sunny, near 70; mostly cloudy overnight, upper-40s. Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, mid-60s. Chance of showers at night, low near 50.
Wednesday: Cloudy, chance of showers, high 60-65, nighttime low 50-55. Thursday: Mostly cloudy, showers possible, upper 60s. Rain likely at night, low around 55.
Friday: Cloudy, occasional rain, high near 70, low in the mid-50s. Saturday (Sept. 29): Partly sunny, 65-70, clear at night, low 50-55.
Sources: National Weather Service and AccuWeather.com.
