Signs of Autumn are all around us and that includes some trees already changing color in Northern New England with some splashes of spotty color here in our area. On average, peak colors occur around Columbus Day Weekend (2nd week of October) in Northern Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Southern N.H., Vt., ME is usually around the 3rd week of October, including the Berkshires. Finally in southern New England around the 4th week of October.

What make the leaves change color? The really don’t change color but rather reveal colors that are already there, hidden within deep pigments of green….As the green disappears, other “hidden” colors show up. Plants absorb water from the ground through their roots. They also take in carbon dioxide from the air, while using sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as “food” for energy to help them grow. The process of plants turning water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

So….how do we get rid of the green colors?? That’s where the change of seasons comes in. As summer ends the days get shorter with less sunlight. During the winter, frozen soil means less water getting to the roots. As a result photosynthesis shuts down….green colors fade, revealing pigments of yellow and orange. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves to turn this glucose into a red color.

You can try this link for updates on color across New England the next several weeks:

http://www.yankeefoliage.com/

Our weather team will keep you updated…check back with us on wpri.com for more info.

Tony Petrarca

We’re headed back to the moon…but this time, no people will be going.  Instead, a spacecraft will be crashing into the moon to look for water.

LCROSS….Courtesy of NASA

Previous missions have detected water on the moon…and there are some indications that there could be a significant amount of water on the moon.

Next week, we will learn a lot more.  The mission is called LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite).  The LCROSS spacecraft was launched into an orbit around the Earth and the Moon by an Atlas rocket on June 18th.   On Friday, October 9, that orbit will end in explosive fashion. 

(more…)

With Charlie on the move, it’s time to baby-proof our home… check out today’s segment on the Rhode Show, as local mom blogger, Audrey McClelland, helps me find the hidden dangers in our home.  Plus, she shows us some of the latest tools in baby-proofing.

The Autumnal Equinox arrives at 5:18pm Tuesday, Sept 21st. Days are getting shorter and nights are getting longer. It reminds me of the line from the Don Henley song “Boys of Summer”……..”Feel it in the air, summers out of reach”. The seasonal average high temperature has gone from 82 degrees back in late July to around 70 degrees righ now. Early Autumn is a great time of year…mild afternoons and cool nights. The only downside are the sunsets getting earlier ands earlier. The term equinox is Latin meaning equal, because around the equinox, the nights and days are approximately 12 hours each. Autumn is a transition season from Summer into Winter. We usually get a taste of both Summer and Winter-like weather during this transition season….obviously as we get deeper into the season hints of Winter start to win out. The earliest measurable snow around here was back in late October of 1979. Legitimate snowstorms can move in by November, though traditionally December marks the start of the real snow season. You may be wondering when do we set the clocks back? Sunday November 1st is when we get that extra hour of sleep…but the trade off is a sunset time an hour earlier.

Tony Petrarca

I am so excited about the new movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  This is my all-time favorite book to read to kiddos when I visit schools, and I can’t wait to read it to Charlie.  It’s the perfect children’s book for TV meteorologists… about a town called Chewandswallow, where everything that falls from the sky is food.  I watched the trailer this morning and it looks very cute–though I can already see that the producers took some liberties with the plot.  Big surprise. 

Here’s the trailer if you want to check it out:

We’ve had many reports from viewers across our area of a very bright light in the sky.  One viewer described it as if fuel was being burned.  We heard of reports from New Hampshire as well.

It wasn’t a UFO.  It was NASA.  There is a launch site on Wallops Island, Virginia.   They launched a rocket this evening (around 7:46pm), and it passed over our skies. 

Here are the Wallops Island tweets on Twitter: Wallops Island on Twitter

Here’s the video of the actual launch from “ChrisAstro” on YouTube.  You can see the stages separate in the video:  Rocket launch 

Here’s the NASA web site describing the mission (which is actually weather related):  NASA

I hope this clears things up for you.  If you have pictures or video send it our way… weather@wpri.com

-T.J. Del Santo

Kudos to the Bristol/Warren school district for their early learning program, “Parents as Teachers”.  It’s a great program that’s free to toddlers under three in the area.  Once a month an expert will come into your home to work with and assess your little one to make sure he/she is developing all of the skills of an average baby.  

Charlie had his first home visit yesterday.  Nancy worked around my work schedule and Charlie’s nap schedule to maximize our time together.  She gave me some great ideas on encouraging Charlie to crawl (he only wants to walk) and some new developmental games to play.  She also left me with a sizeable packet of information on skills to look for at his age, foods to try, sleeping habits, etc.  It was great, and I’m looking forward to next month’s visit.

Looking Cute

The following review was compiled by the National Weather Service, Taunton Mass.
_________________________________________

…CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 2009 WAS COOLER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL
OVERALL ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND…

A PERSISTENT TROUGH OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND DURING JUNE AND JULY
2009 HELPED TO BRING PREDOMINANTLY COOL AND MOIST CONDITIONS. A MORE
TYPICAL SUMMERLIKE PATTERN DEVELOPED THE LAST WEEK OF JULY AND
GENERALLY LASTED THROUGH THE THIRD WEEK OF AUGUST…WITH BERMUDA
HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATING THE EASTERN SEABOARD. AUGUST 2009 FEATURED
WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS OVERALL…AFTER AN UNUSUALLY COOL AND WET
START TO CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 2009.

THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 2009 WHICH
INCLUDES JUNE…JULY AND AUGUST RESPECTIVELY. STATISTICS ARE
GIVEN FOR FOUR OF THE MAJOR LONG TERM CLIMATE LOCATIONS…

PROVIDENCE/TF GREEN AIRPORT RI OFFICIAL RECORDS SINCE 1905

AVG TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE 90F OR WARMER DEPARTURE

JUNE 2009 64.4F -3.2F 0 DAYS -2 DAYS

JULY 2009 70.3F -3.0F 0 DAYS -4 DAYS

AUGUST 2009 73.9F +2.0F 2 DAYS -1 DAYS

CLIMATOLOGICAL
SUMMER 2009 69.5F -1.4F 2 DAYS -7 DAYS
90F OR WARMER

PRECIPITATION DEPARTURE MEASURABLE DEPARTURE
PCPN
0.01″ OR MORE

JUNE 2009 3.61 INCHES +0.23 INCHES 17 DAYS +6 DAYS

JULY 2009 10.52 INCHES +7.35 INCHES 17 DAYS +8 DAYS

AUGUST 2009 2.80 INCHES -1.10 INCHES 8 DAYS -1 DAY

CLIMATOLOGICAL
SUMMER 2009 16.93 INCHES +6.48 INCHES 42 DAYS +13 DAYS

REMARKS…

TEMPERATURES…

- JUNE 2009…TIED 9TH COOLEST JUNE WITH 1927 AND 1905.
- JULY 2009…TIED 8TH COOLEST JUNE WITH 1992 AND 1954.
- AUGUST 2009…9TH WARMEST AUGUST AND WARMEST SINCE 2005.
JUNE/JULY 2009…TIED 4TH COOLEST COMBINED AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
67.4F… DEPARTURE -3.1F.
- CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 2009…COOLEST CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER SINCE
2000…BUT DID NOT RANK WITHIN TOP TEN COOLEST.
- NO 90 DEGREE PLUS HIGHS IN JUNE OR JULY 2009…FIRST TIME SINCE
1996.

PRECIPITATION…

- JULY 2009…10.52 INCHES…WETTEST JULY ON RECORD BEATS 1976.
- JUNE/JULY 2009…14.13 INCHES TIED SECOND WETTEST JUNE/JULY
COMBINATION WITH 1938.
- CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 2009…6TH WETTEST ON RECORD AND WETTEST
SINCE 1989 WHICH HAD 17.57 INCHES.
- CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 2009…PRECIPITATION 0.01 INCH OR MORE…42
DAYS…HIGHEST FREQUENCY SINCE CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMER 1958 WHICH HAD
43 DAYS. THE 42 DAY TOTAL IS 46 PERCENT OF POSSIBLE DAYS.

Tony R Petrarca

Slow moving storm of the New Jersey coast will drift south of us next 24 hours bringing periods of rain. Have noticed some isolated thunderstorms of Doppler radar around 7pm. We will keep isolated thunder in the forecast Tonight along with a general widespread rain.

East winds off the ocean Saturday along with clouds will keep temperatures cool..60s.
Occasional showers and drizzle likely thru Saturday night. Still some hope for Sunday. Despite a cloudy start..some brightening by afternoon along with milder temps. Looks more of a “partly” rather than “mostly” sunny afternoon..nonetheless, better than Saturday

Tony Petrarca

As of midnight, I cant help but notice on radar and satellite images, how impressive this small compact storm off the New Jersey coasts looks. The National Hurricane Center has not classified this as a Tropical storm..however, weather bouys off shore have winds up to 50mph. It looks like it has some topical characteristics, but more than likely it will not get a name. The thrust of this storm will be felt south of New York city. For us, we will get some rain and a bit of gusty wind along the coast and offshore for Today (Friday). While not a nice beach day, the surf will be rough and there is a moderate risk of rip currents.

Storm will weaken on Saturday, but enough moisture will stick around for a mostly cloudy day with occasional light showers. Sunday looks much better with at least partly sunny skies along with warmer temps.

Tony Petrarca