Summer weather will linger into early autumn in Sarnia-Lambton.
Fall officially arrived at 3:50 a.m. Monday, September 23.
Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng said the season will begin with above normal temperatures.
"I think it's our way to hold onto summer with our fingernails," said Cheng. "Looking ahead into the rest of September, that seems to be likely but as we head into October things may start to come back down and be more fall-like."
Cheng said a lot of models for the rest of fall are showing that temperatures may be above normal but he adds that it's a transition season and we'll see big swings in temperatures.
Cheng said there are no big weather patterns like El Nino this year so the long-range forecast for winter is neutral.
"We don't see a lot of signals, so right now we can say that perhaps temperatures will be somewhat above normal, but keep in mind you're talking about a whole stretch of three months so there will be some cold periods."
There was no prolonged heat this past summer and Cheng said it was drier than usual.
"There were two consecutive days of 31 C or above and on July 19 a humidex of 47 C," he said. "So there were some occasional spikes in temperatures but other than that it was very average."
Cheng said it was also a more quiet summer in terms of severe weather. Nine tornadoes have been confirmed in Ontario so far, down from the average of 12 or 13, with the most recent taking place near Petrolia September 11.
