Summer's out

Monday, Mother Nature couldn't quite make up her mind.

In the morning, she wanted it to be crisp and cool, just the right temperature for a light jacket or sweater. By afternoon, she wanted Southeast Missouri residents back in their shorts and sleeveless shirts.

Monday, the first day of fall, started out with an overnight low of 42 and by mid-afternoon, the mercury rose 33 degrees.

Students' clothing on Southeast Missouri State University's campus reflected the temperature range. Shortly after lunch, some students were decked out in blue jeans and long-sleeve shirts, while others wore shorts and T-shirts.

Some, like Adrienne Bland, wore a little of both -- long-sleeve shirts with shorts.

"It's hard to know what to wear, especially because you go into the classrooms and it's 30 degrees below zero," Bland said. "It's hot outside, then it may be cold indoors."

Sean McMahon was wearing a heavy Southeast Missouri State University sweatshirt with shorts on his way to class Monday afternoon.

"It's cool out, but it's kind of disturbing when you get to class and you're sweating," he said.

According to Greg Meffert, the senior forecaster with the National Weather Service at Paducah, Ky., Bland and McMahon should get used to the daily temperature swing.

"It looks like fall pretty much arrived right on time," Meffert said. "It's going to be a nice, early-fall week with dry conditions, cool mornings and pleasant afternoons. What you see is what you're going to get."

The large range in daily temperature is nothing new to the first day of fall.

In 1999, the low was 37 and the high was 82, a difference of 45 degrees, the largest first-day-of-fall fluctuation in the last 10 years. The average range of temperature in the last 10 years for the first day of fall is 27.3 degrees.

Meffert said there is a possibility for some rain by the weekend, depending on what course tropical storm Isidore takes once it reaches the southern coast of the country.

Monday morning's low was well below the average low temperature for this time of year, which is 55 in Cape Girardeau. The average high is 79 degrees.

Monday represented a substantial switch in the weather, considering two weeks ago high temperatures reached at least 90 on six consecutive days. The previous lowest temperature for September this year was 49 degrees on Sept. 12.

In the last 10 years, the low temperature has dipped below 45 degrees only three times on the first day of fall, including Monday's low. The lows dipped to 37 in both 1995 and 1999.

The highest temperature on the first day of fall in the last 10 years is 86 degrees in 2000. In 1993, Cape Girardeau was hit with 3.38 inches of rain, the most in the last 10 years.

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127