As we say goodbye to September we will see a cooling trend settle in, although conditions won’t be too extreme. Sunny weather will move in over the weekend after Friday’s cold front has passed. Saturday’s high temperatures will reach the mid-70s and slide to the low 70s on Sunday. Another stronger cold front will move in to the region the first of next week, dropping highs Monday and Tuesday into the low 60s and upper 50s. The front won’t have much moisture, so showers are going to be limited, but it will bring some cloudiness.

Yesterday, I gave the astronomical definition of the equinox. From an earthbound perspective, here’s a way to visualize what’s happening. If you extend the equator of the earth out into space, the line traced across the sky is called the celestial equator. During the summer months the sun always appears above (or to the north) this line as it crosses the sky. The path the sun appears to take can be considered the ecliptic. But as summer wanes and fall approaches, the sun drops lower (southward) and eventually crosses the celestial equator, marking the beginning of fall.