SEPTEMBER WAS VERY WARM, DRY

Schools dismissed early the first few days of September because temperatures reached into the 90s, and the heat index hit 110 in some classrooms.

The SEMO District Fair in mid-September stayed dry for the first time in a number of years.

September was a long, hot, dry month across the region.

Temperatures soared past 90 degrees a dozen days, including the five final days of the month.

Rain was almost non-existent, except in some isolated spots.

Cape Girardeau received less than 1.5 inches of rain, and 1.1 inches of it came in a downpour on Sept. 21.

The first day of autumn provided more normal temperatures: a high of 77 and low of 54.

But those temperatures were far below average for the month. September saw an average high of 89 and an average low of 60. The overall average temperature in September was 74.9, almost 5 degrees higher than the norm.

Paul Witsaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist at Paducah, Ky., said temperatures for the month averaged 4.7 degrees higher than normal.

"We had 17 days above 90 in Paducah," said Witsaman, "and we had only 0.12 inches of rain. That's about 3 inches below normal September rainfall in Paducah."

"Western Missouri felt some effect from the hurricane-type weather and experienced plenty of rain," he said. "But that big, dome-like high-pressure area kept it away from Eastern Missouri and Western Kentucky."

Wisaman expects the weather to return to normal the first half of October.

The dry September has helped farmers: Crops are reaching maturity earlier than normal, and harvesting is 10 days to two weeks ahead of normal. Most corn in Missouri has been harvested.

Forestry experts say fall foliage will be early, and that is good news to those who enjoy participating in fall-color caravans. Headlining one of the tours is the Union County Colorfest in Southern Illinois, which will be held next weekend. The event includes drives through Shawnee National Forest, Trail of Tears State Park, LaRue-Pine Hills and Bald Knob Cross area.

Many fall festivals also scheduled in October in Southeast Missouri, including events at Marble Hill and East Prairie this weekend, in Black Forest near Cape Girardeau next weekend, and the Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive and Fall Tours through December.