Summer Is Not Over Yet

With these last few cool days and a full crop of acorns on the trees, I am hearing predictions of an early winter. I seriously doubt the Crystal Coast is ready to let go of summer that easily. While September did seem to turn a weather page, we will not be enjoying seventy-five degree high temperatures for much longer. After Friday, September 11, the long range weather forecasts have the high temperatures in the mid to low eighties for the next two weeks. In case anyone has forgotten, it has been only a few weeks since heat was what we got every day. We were begging for some cooler temperatures with less humidity. Right now we are getting those cooler temperatures. We will be warm again very soon. However, there are few questions worth exploring.

The first question among the beach walkers is whether or not the water will warm back up? At the moment that does not look promising. Water temperatures at Hammocks Beach have already dropped to seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit. The only thing that can reverse that is a number of warm nights when the air temperature stays above eighty degrees. I only see a couple of days when the air temperature is going to stay above seventy at night in the next couple of weeks.

With those cool evening temperatures, it is going to be hard to warm the ocean back to the eighties unless we get some really warm weather in October. That is not out of the question, but it is also not likely.

The next question is whether cooler water temperatures really matter?

At this point the beaches are really nice for walking, very refreshing if you go wading and pretty nippy if you go swimming. However, we all know that most of the people who enjoy swimming in the water are back in school.

Those of us who love to walk the beaches, look for shells, and cast for a few fish are not impacted by the cooler water temperatures. In fact, we fishermen welcome the cooler water temperatures. The fish are much more active which means they are more likely to take a bait or hit a lure.

The rains of last Monday did not help the situation a lot. If you dump eight inches of cool rainwater into the ocean it is likely to have some impact. While the river handled it easily, there was still an impact on the water temperatures.

However, with temperatures climbing to the mid-eighties for the next couple of weeks, the Crystal Coast will be nearly a paradise for most people which is why so many of us live here the whole year.

We still have enough visitors to keep us on our toes, but we are definitely past the peak of tourist traffic. This is actually the time of year when you might have a few more conversations with visitors. Things are not as rushed or crowded so people are a little more likely to strike up a conversation.

This is a very pleasant time of the year. We will not be using the air conditioning very much. I have the windows open at our house tonight. Still as long as the temperatures are getting into the eighties, I refuse to declare summer over. The waters might be a little cooler, but the people living here are just as warm and friendly as they are in mid-July.

Eighty plus degrees in September is a pretty nice temperature. Just check with my friends in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in Canada. They had frost warnings last night.

We are certainly in no rush to see summer disappear, and if past falls are any indication we might still be rewarded with some great beach weather over the next few months.

Sometimes fall keeps winter at bay even in December. I for one am counting on it. My second crop of tomatoes has only been in the ground three weeks. I already have a green tomato so my hopes are high.

Also I might need plenty of time to catch that red drum I want this fall.