September started warm and dry but will finish off cool and wet. The average temperature is now at 16.3 degrees Celsius three weeks into the month, down from 17.7 degrees a week ago and close to the normal of 16.2 degrees Celsius for the entire month. The daytime highs forecast for the rest of the month will be below average, so September will likely close out cooler than normal.
Heat units (CHU) also started to cool off, even though the whole season will probably be above average. September has so far received 439 CHU, which, for the first time this summer, means the heat unit count is running (slightly) below normal on a prorated basis (447 CHU). The normal for September is 559 CHU, and since May 12th, when the CHU count started, the area has already received over 3100 CHU.
The Ormstown area went from 0 to 100 in the last week for precipitation, but at least we didn’t get a hurricane. There was only 3 mm of rain for the first half of the month but 98 mm in the last ten days for a total of 101 mm of precipitation to date – and we’re not done yet with rain and showers in the forecast for the remaining days of September.
The Environment Canada weather station at Saint-Anicet reports 71 mm, 87 mm in Ste-Clotilde and 96 mm in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. Normal rainfall for the month is around 80-85 mm. Some fields are showing puddles on the surface, and the wet ground does not bode well for the corn and soybean harvest as the cooler temperatures at this time of the year significantly reduces the amount of water evaporation from the soil.
The forecast for October is normal temperatures throughout, with daytime highs on both sides of 20 degrees Celsius and nighttime lows between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius. No forecast of a killing frost until the end of the month.
