Cold, severe weather in forecast next week
For the fourth week of late summer.
The air sizzles with insect song. Crickets and grasshoppers warn and wook, rubbing their musical legs. They make the sound of beans rolling in a pan, tiny bells ringing on the ankles of dancers, fingers raked over the teeth of combs, waves rolling cobbles on the shore.
— Scott Russell Sanders
The Moon: Full on August 26, the Blackberry Jam Moon wanes throughout the period, entering its last quarter at 9:37 p.m. on September 2.
The Sun: The Sun’s position is the same now as in early April, and the rate of the night’s expansion increases from Middle Summer’s two minutes per day to three minutes. In another week, the day’s length will drop below 13 hours.
The Planets: Venus in Virgo continues to be the giant evening star in the far west. Jupiter follows at her heels in Libra in the southwest.
The Stars: Cygnus, the Northern Cross, with Deneb its brightest star, becomes a sky guide for autumn, moving slightly west from its central August position. Leading it on, just a little further west, is Lira and its major star, Vega. Below Cygnus lie Aquila and its keystone, Altair.
The Shooting Stars: No major meteor showers occur this week.
Weather Trends: Weather history suggests that the cold waves of Early Fall usually cross the Mississippi River on or about the following dates: September 2, 8, 12, 15, 20, 24 and 29. Tornadoes, hail, floods or prolonged periods of soggy pasture are most likely to occur in connection with tropical storms, especially near lunar perigee, September 7, New Moon on September 9 and Full Moon on September 24.
The effects of the first September cold wave usually appear by the 2nd, which is the first day since June 4th that 90s become unlikely. Then on the 3rd, there is a 55 percent chance of highs only in the 70s. The 4th also brings a good chance of chilly weather, and it begins the long period of the year during which there is at least a ten percent chance of highs below 70 degrees. Warmer conditions typically return on the 5th and 6th, but the second high-pressure system of the month, which arrives between the 5th and 11th, brings lows into the 30s one year in 20.
Natural Calendar: Berries are red on the silver olives, orange on the American mountain ash, purple on the pokeweed. Wild cherries have disappeared from their branches. Touch-menots burst at the slightest touch. Cobwebs are everywhere in the woods, and the number of butterflies swells in the gardens. When the days are cool, the cicadas are quiet. On the colder nights, the katydids refuse to chant and the frogs are silent. Sandhill cranes start to arrive in Midwestern wetlands on their way to the Gulf of Mexico. Doves stop calling before dawn until February.
Fish, Insects, Livestock and Birds: Kingbirds, finches, ruddy ducks, herring gulls and yellow-bellied sapsuckers move south. The last young grackles and hummingbirds leave their nests. Fish and game often become more active as the waning Moon passes overhead between midnight and dawn this week, especially as the cool fronts of September 2 approaches.
In the Field and Garden: Cottonwoods fade as the goldenrod turns and the soybean fields yellow. The commercial tomato harvest is half complete, and 4 out of every 10 potatoes have been dug. Soybeans are beginning to shed, and the harvest has begun in southern counties. Twenty-five percent of the corn is often mature by the end of this week, and the silage cutting picks up speed.
Marketing Notes: Cool autumn weather may be right for your to begin your worm farm as the first step in a bait sales diversification.
September 3: Labor Day: An excellent time to introduce mums, pansies, gourds and pumpkins to your roadside stand.
The Almanack Horoscope: September’s relatively pleasant temperatures and clear skies keep S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) at bay throughout most of the month. In addition, hormonal energy may increase at this time of year, creating an “autumn surge” that combats S.A.D.
Journal
For me, nostalgia often accompanies the steady transformation of the landscape. Memories proliferate, and my mind travels back and forth through the concentric circles of the years, sifting images and feelings, recent and distant events, sorting and ruminating, nothing making much sense.
This morning, I went outside into fog and dew. I saw that a big fat orbweaver spider had made its web across the shed door overnight. I remember this time last year; I wasn’t paying attention and walked into the same kind of web in front of the same door.
Today, from morning until evening, squirrels chirred and chattered in the woodlot behind my house. I remembered back in 2004, Casey mentioned to me that when he and Rusty, Joe and Eli were having coffee at Dino’s, they talked about the unusually intense activity of the squirrels. “They were packing walnuts like they were just invented,” said Casey. “Looks like it’s going to be a cold winter.”
In fact as I looked back through my notes, I saw that the winter had been mild. So much for “prepping.”
Tonight I sat on the porch, the wind before the coming storm pulled showers of yellow locust leaves to the lawn beside me. The crickets and katydids were in full song as the storm drew nearer. I remembered that this was about the time Hurricane Katrina came ashore and that the greatest amount of rain in American history fell in Texas. The last days of August: perhaps the crucible of climate change.