Wild Ride This Fall

Lately, I've heard one common question from folks: "Why the heck is it so warm?"

Check out this animation . It shows the Northern Hemisphere looking down at the North Pole. If your geography is a bit rusty, no worries. North America is at the bottom of the circle and Iowa is pretty much in the middle. Notice the growing blue blob on the lower left of the image. Over the last month two enormous and persistent areas of cool, stormy weather are setting up. One is to the west, and the other to the east. We will be sandwiched somewhere in-between. Anytime this happens, it usually spells warmth for the heartland. In fact, you can expect hot/above average conditions for about 2/3 of your outdoors adventures this October.

You can also expect wild swings this Fall! Pictured to the left is a three month forecast from the Climate Prediction Center with my forecast overlayed. It looks like we'll see above average temps and generally dry/sunny conditions the majority of the Fall season with periodic cold spells in-between.  But  we're losing three minutes of daylight with each passing day, and the sun angle is getting lower- so winter will come. The cold spells will come in surges that will last several days a piece. Because most of the storms will be coming from the NW, rain and clouds will be limited. With sunshine, the cold will generally lose it's grip within a week. This warm/dry pattern will spell comfortable conditions for us to enjoy this fall. Heck, maybe even a lower energy bill!

When the weather's like this, deer still move around. Later this week I'll blog about the specific strategies I use for hunting a warm weather pattern. They are simple and very effective so keep checking in and tell a friend about this blog. Send me a message if you want me to talk about a specific topic, or have a weather question. I'll be happy to accommodate. Good luck out there!