This transcript was edited for brevity and clarity
Bill Burton: It's time for us to take a look at the Science Behind the Forecast as I'm joined by WAVE 3 meteorologist Tawana Andrew. Good morning, Tawana.
Tawana Andrew: Good morning. Today's topic is about fall not quite feeling like fall.
BB: Fall is getting further and further away as summer is just continually expanding. It feels that way to me. And that's what we're talking about today, because it actually is expanding, isn't it?
TA: It really is. I found a study that looked at 246 major cities across the U.S. and the average temperatures in those cities between 1970 and 2024. And of the 246 cities, 92% of them experience summer-like temperatures lasting an average of about 10 additional days into the fall.
BB: A week and a half extra of summer in 92% of those cities. Wow!
TA: And of those 246 cities as well, 68% of them saw summer temperatures lasting at least a week longer. So all of us are really being impacted by this. Especially in Texas and Florida, they're the ones who really have been seeing some of the longest extensions of these summer-like temperatures, anywhere from 20 to 30 days of additional 80 to 85 degree-plus highs.
BB: An entire month?
TA: It's just been a lot of heat trying to build across portions of the country. For Louisville specifically, we see an additional 13 days of 85 degree-plus temperatures in the fall months. So if you're wondering why you're still hot and you want to drink your pumpkin spice latte, this is why.
BB: It's a confusing time for all of us.
TA: But we're still going to wear the cute sweaters and drink the latte anyway, right? And the warmer weather is great for all of our fall festivals, it's great for agriculture overall, but there could still be some negative impacts. For example, if you're allergic to ragweed, that longer growing season also means a longer allergy season, and that impacts 50 million people in the United States. So yeah, we're all sneezing, coughing and whatnot together.
Also, when the summer heat extends into fall, that could impact a lot of students. Especially student athletes, because that increases their exposure to heat-related illnesses. And for anybody who works outside, that's the same thing that they're going to have to deal with as well. But especially for children, because children are more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, and now, according to data, they're twice as likely to experience extreme heat during their childhoods compared to previous generations. So the heat is becoming the norm for them, and extreme heat, by the way, is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. So that is something else to keep in mind.
And of course, those longer streaks of warmer weather are not great for our wallets, because indoor cooling demands are going up with the warmer temperatures. That means we're paying more money, especially in a city like Louisville, which is an urban heat island, you see a little bit more of the impact in that way as well.
Now, with the hot and dry weather that we typically see in fall — because September, by the way, is usually one of the drier months for this particular area — you have the heat, you have the dry weather, that can increase fire danger across parts of Indiana and Kentucky. That's something else to keep in mind as we get into fall and we keep some of these warmer temperatures in our forecast.
BB: So it's not just us. It doesn't just seem like summer is getting longer. Summer is getting longer. And we know just how widespread this phenomenon is now, thanks to this edition of Science Behind the Forecast with WAVE 3 meteorologist Tawana Andrew. Thanks for the knowledge, Tawana.
TA: Of course.
