Our weather has been up and down lately too - yesterday it was 81F/27C, quite a bit above average, but the next few days are expected to be awesome (60s-70s F).

The sky today is actually blue rather than the milky, hazy white of late, caused by the West Coast wildfires. Not only are sunrises and sunsets vibrantly red, but the stars are almost hidden at night. Even bright planets like Venus and Jupiter are barely visible due to the smoke. After a clear night tonight the smoke is expected to return.

I've seen reports and satellite images indicating the smoke has reached Europe. The images of smoke obscuring West Coast cities are pretty amazing.

Posted by: @fantasia

Goodland Kansas got 1/2" of snow yesterday and dropped to 32F, which broke two records: earliest ever recorded snowfall and earliest ever freeze. 

We're not that cold here, but it's certainly chilly for summer. 51F currently, but in a couple days we'll warm right back up again.  

The weather has heated up somewhat so far, but I'm no good of a judge at the moment due to ill health. It is still too dry, though the spring weather is also very nice. I'm sorry to hear about those fires.

Stargazer, you said that the West Coast fires have made enough smoke to blow over as far as Europe, but did they go across Russia or from the West Coast all the way over the Atlantic? What you described in your last post reminded horribly of last year, when it made much of Sydney look like we were living in Charn, for over a month.

But there is still a bit of smoke around at the moment from backburning, which  last year protected the bushland nearest the city to some extent, by clearing away fallen leaves & branches on the ground etc.

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

Stargazer, you said that the West Coast fires have made enough smoke to blow over as far as Europe, but did they go across Russia or from the West Coast all the way over the Atlantic? What you described in your last post reminded horribly of last year, when it made much of Sydney look like we were living in Charn, for over a month.

Here in the UK, we've had a few noticeably bright red sunsets lately, so I wonder if that's at least partly caused by the fires in the western US. There haven't been any major problems with air quality in general, though. We have had a spate of unusually warm weather over the last few days, but before that it was pretty standard late summer / early autumn — gradually getting cooler with a fair bit of rain.

Sorry to hear you've been unwell, Wagga — hope you're feeling much better soon. I love your new koala avatar!  

wagga, the smoke blew east across North America and the Atlantic to Europe (our prevailing winds blow west to east).

Courtenay, I think it's quite possible you're seeing some effect from the smoke as well. Reports here have mentioned it's high enough in the atmosphere to cause the orange sun, white skies, and dimmed stars, but not low enough to impact air quality (with the exception of the US West Coast).

Yesterday's blue skies have been replaced by the milky white of the smoke, which has returned due to a change in the winds.

Thank you Stargazer. Yes it is currently the Equinox, Spring down here. We are threatened by Antarctic cold snaps but they never seem to materialise. So far we are doing okay. I'm grateful the weather hasn't been as threatening as it was last year. We get winds in Sydney, not only from the South & also North West, sweeping over Mainland Australia in huge arcs, but also from the South East, you see.  Southerly Busters & the like, which we welcome with huge relief. In Western Australia they are called the Fremantle Doctors.

Our weather here currently has been rather boring. But as I look at the fires to the west and the hurricanes to the southeast, I think I'm okay with boring. 

At least it's nice, but this week we're warming back up to highs in the mid 80Fs. I may have to turn our AC back on.

What a mess. Delta is predicted to be a Cat 5 at landfall in Mexico. A cat 2 or 3 in Louisiana. Louisiana and Mississippi and Florida really can't take another major storm. Galveston doesn't need it either, but the Gulf Coast needs a break. 

Meanwhile, the weather here is quiet, and almost ideal for enjoying time outside. Highs have been around 65-70F/19C, with crystal clear blue skies and low humidity. But tomorrow's record high is 86F/30C, and it looks like we might challenge that.

We are having gorgeous Autumn weather here. Days are hovering around mid-teens Celsius (60-ish F); nights drop to freezing, with regular frosts. We had early frosts this year (a few weeks ago now), enabling the turning leaves to be more vibrant and colourful than they have been the past few years: brilliant reds, oranges, yellows. And many trees are just beginning to turn, but enough are in the midst of the change that the countryside is ablaze with colour. Absolutely love this time of year!

My early morning walks are filled with the night sky and barely into the dawn, so crisp and invigorating. The gardens are gaining that beautifully wild look, as leaves begin to fall, and plants are in their various Autumn stages.

Tomorrow we should be hitting an abnormal high for this time of year (24C / 75F), and then it drops right down again to seasonal on Sunday (mid teens again during the day). This weekend is our (Canada's) Thanksgiving   and many will be out walking, hiking, biking, having campfires, taking advantage of this most lovely of seasons.

Happy Thanksgiving, Johobbit! Glad you're having such wonderful weather for it.

Sounds lovely, Jo! The colors here have been spectacular but between rain last night (more than we received in all of September) and some wind, many leaves have fallen down.  Last week had great weather, though Friday was a bit toasty with a high of 80F/27C...and there is a chance of snow this coming weekend.

Speaking of snow...there's a good chance of 2-6 inches (50-150mm) of snow here tomorrow. Even though the yards are full of leaves and some trees are still green.

While we aren't getting snow where I live, the nice Fall weather is leaving us and we're getting blasted with the cold air from the north. My whole family loves it....except for me. LOL But our temperatures start to warm up, and then we get hit with a cold blast and they fall down again. This Thursday our high is 80F but Friday's high is 48F, and overnight MIGHT be our first frost of the season. 

If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow. Otherwise give me my 70Fs back.  

I'd be glad to send you some snow. 😉 Confidence continues to increase that we will be getting at least 5 inches (though it will likely melt by the end of the week).

I'd ask you to send us some too, Stargazer — I LOOOOOVE snow (having grown up in a part of the world where we never have it) — but I think everyone else in the UK would be outraged.