How Warm Has It Been?

It’s definitely been a warm end to September so far. High temperatures for both Columbus and Tupelo have reached at least 90 degrees each afternoon for a week (Sept 17th-Sept 24th). But how unusual is this late stretch of warm weather.

The answer, it’s not that unusual. In Tupelo, where records date back to 1930, there have been 24 7-day streaks beginning in September that have all had high temperatures above 90 degrees. The longest of these occurred in 1936 when there were 17 days straight with highs above 90. In fact one of these streaks occurred almost exactly 1 year ago. From September 18th 2016-September 25th 2016 we saw highs above 90 including 4 days above 95 degrees. In addition, back in 1986 there was a 12 day streak that lasted into October.

On average, late September brings the last 90 degree day for Columbus, Starkville and Tupelo but all three cities have registered highs above 90 degrees well into October. There have even been a few times where we have hit 95 degrees in October. Starkville had their latest 90 degree day last year on November 2nd. Columbus and Tupelo set record highs for that day at 88 and 87 degrees respectively.

September tends to be a month of change, and this year is no different. We started off the month unusually cool. The first 15 days saw temperatures about 7.2 degrees cooler than normal. In the days since we have seen temperatures about 7.2 degrees above normal.

Now that September is coming to an end, we will once again change the weather pattern. A cold front will push through late this week and will bring cooler and more fall-like weather with it. To begin October, temperatures will drop back into the upper 70s and low 80s.