From Forum News Service
Recent editorials from Midwest newspapers.
Officially, autumn has begun this week
Unofficially, summer is still with us.
If Tuesday’s first full day of autumn felt like summer, it’s because the autumnal equinox is about planetary astronomy, not Northern Plains weather.
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As outlined deftly in Sunday’s Forum by WDAY chief meteorologist John Wheeler, when the equinox occurred Monday night, nothing related to the seasons actually happened on the ground, where weather affects people. And with his usual measured confidence (unlike weather broadcasters who tend to report every aspect of change in weather with hyperbole not justified by what’s actually happening), Wheeler’s seriousness and sciencebased reporting go directly to his credibility.
(WDAY is owned by Forum Communications Co., which owns this newspaper.)
The autumn astronomical line has been crossed (at the equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator), but it still feels like summe. ... If the forecast is right, summer will hold on for at least a week and possibly into early next week. For mid-September, it doesn’t get any better.
However, signs of change - equinox and all - are evident. The most noticeable is the ever-shorter day - now close to 12 hours of sunlight, 12 hours of night by the end of this week. And the deciduous trees are responding to the expiration of their green by showing off yellows and reds. Leaf drop is not far off.
Finally, even as bright fall days feel like summer, an occasional morning chill carried on a brisk breeze from the north hints of things to come. And that next guidepost on the cosmological measure - the winter solstice - is only two months away. And this is a certainty: On Dec. 21, not only will it be astronomical winter, it will feel like winter, too.
- The Forum of Fargo/Moorhead
