INDIAN SUMMER ANYONE?

Written by: Bob Metcalfe

I want to call it an Indian Summer, I just don't know if I can! Clearly we're all now well past our first deep freeze of the year, heck some of us have seen a few inches of snow! But milder air returns and sticks with us this week. So is this an Indian Summer?

I have my own idea of what an Indian Summer is. Before the research I did with my friend Google this afternoon, I said no. Lets see if the research backed me up.

Wikipedia suggests that an Indian summer is "The generally accepted use of the term is when the weather is sunny and clear and above 21°C (70°F), and all of the leaves of the trees have turned but before the first snow has fallen; a period normally associated with mid-October to late-November in the northern states of the U.S."

Well we certainly won't go above 70 at all this week. The leaves have indeed turned. Some have seen snow, some haven't. It is late October. So I guess two out of three ain't bad. But that 70 degree requirement crushes our chances. We'll be lucky to get even a few degrees above 60.

Ah, I just found our office copy of "The Glossary of Meteorology!" I know, we're geeks, but we love this stuff. Let's see, page 399. Indian summer: "A period, in mid or late autumn, of abnormally warm weather, generally clear skies, sunny but hazy days, and cool nights, after at least one killing frost."

Darn. It definitely won't be "abnormally warm" this week. And the warmest days will have plenty of clouds. Well, there's still some time left. Don't give up hope yet!