Good news! It’s going to be nice and warm this week for just about everyone who should shiver come November. I mean, since we just had to set the clocks back in some dumb ritual we perform simply because it’s a dumb ritual, we should at least get something nice in return, right?

Fall is getting off to a slow start this year. It gets cool for a couple of days, then it warms right back up (not that that’s a bad thing!). As the cool days outnumber the warm, though, you’ll begin to notice a lot more noise at night and in the morning, and it’s all thanks to the weather.

If it seems a little warmer than it should for the second week in October, you’re not going out of your mind (okay, well maybe not for this reason). It’s been warmer than normal for most of the country, and we’ll stay that way for the next couple of weeks. The abnormal warmth is doing more than just keeping us from shivering—it’s also keeping the trees from changing colors.

Today is the first day of astronomical fall. The days are growing noticeably shorter, the leaves are already changing, and the morning air is crisp and energizing. It’s the most wonderful time of the year (only for some of us!), so naturally, summer has to linger and screw it up. Most of the United States will see warmer-than-normal temperatures for the next week or two thanks to a jet stream that’s stuck in heat mode.

Most of the time when you see a post here on The Vane, it’s about some horrible weather event somewhere that killed lots of people and destroyed most of their belongings. I have good news for once! We’re about to have an exceptionally nice weekend across the eastern United States, featuring crisp temperatures and mostly clear skies. Such a universally nice weekend is rare, so enjoy it while you can.

Today is the last day of meteorological summer, and it’s been a long, boring three months. Save for a couple of tropical storms and a derecho or two, there weren’t many weather events that commanded attention. The big story has been the heat and humidity, and that’s what will continue through the first half of September.

Yesterday’s high temperature in Seattle was 94°F, breaking the record as the city’s tenth day so far this year with a high temperature at or above 90°F. This brutal July smashed extremes across the Pacific Northwest, shattering record high temperatures and giving many cities their warmest Julys on record.

Just in time for the beginning of August, the jet stream is undergoing a readjustment that will bring a noticeable change in the weather over the United States for the next couple of weeks. The shift should bring cooler weather to much of the eastern U.S., while the West Coast stays as hot and dry as ever.

Summer’s death grip on the United States might loosen somewhat as we forge through the end of the month, as weather models are pointing to the possibility of the jet stream dragging down some of that cool Canadian air we all know and love (when it’s not January) just in time for the first week of August. Ahh.

Most of western and central Europe is on track to experience a dangerous heat wave over the next week, allowing temperatures to soar up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above average for several days beginning on Wednesday. This level of heat is extremely dangerous in this part of the world due to the lack of air conditioning in many homes across the region.

A slow motion disaster will continue playing out in the western United States this weekend as the same weather pattern that kept the west dangerously hot and dry this past winter is back to roast it over an open fire beginning this weekend. Some locations will see highs in the 100s through the middle of next week.

The southeast is melting under the influence of an unusually brutal early-season heat wave, with temperatures soaring into the upper 90s and low 100s for four days now. Temperatures will moderate somewhat for a day or two this weekend, but the heat is going to crank back up for most of next week.

Once upon a time, it used to get uncomfortably hot in June. Remember those days? It was just a few years ago, but after last year’s cakewalk they called “summer”, this year’s heat is going to seem downright brutal and unforgiving. A heat wave is cranking up in the southeast right now, and it’s going to get ugly.

Welcome to April! The next month looks like it'll be interesting, with warmer-than-average temperatures for much of the country, except the Northeast, where winter clings like tangy marinara to a plate of cold pasta. Sorry. This is no joke, either—we don't play those games. Nature really does just hate you.

It was downright gorgeous across the United States and Canada earlier this week. Dozens of towns from Texas to Saskatchewan set record highs during the brief warm-up. Unfortunately, March's gotta act like March, and we've slumped back into that weird winter pattern of a warm west and cool east.

As expected, this was the warmest winter on record in five western states—California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Washington. The National Climatic Data Center's analysis jibes nicely with The Vane's findings that showed a major split between above-average in the West and below-average in the East.

It's about time: winter is finally on its way out and warmer temperatures are just around the corner. We still have another week or two of cold weather to get through in the east, but that's amateur hour compared to the past three months. This winter was like a weird, climatic rap feud between east and west.

The coldest air many places have seen in years (and even decades) will descend upon the eastern U.S. this evening, producing dangerous and record-breaking low temperatures on Thursday and Friday stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Lows close to zero will reach as far south as South Carolina.

This year's dry, warm winter in the western United States will continue virtually unchallenged for the foreseeable future, with little beneficial precipitation expected over the next week. The conditions will only serve to worsen the exceptional drought, leading the way to a potentially devastating wildfire season.