Summer's last "hoorah?" Not so fast

As of this writing we have about one month left of the calendar version of summer. I say "calendar version" because in the Atlanta metro area, school is back in session so here, summer if unofficially over in early August. In the Southeastern United States, we're far from being done with 90-plus-degree Fahrenheit temperatures for at least one more month. Yet, some folks are talking about taking advantage of 'Summer's Last Hoorah.' Really? It seems like we have a long time from this moment to call quits on summer.  

Maybe some folks are wishing for those cool fall nights, football and pumpkin carvings a tad too soon. If one looks around there are many autumn events in September that still qualify as summer events. Certainly it would be nice if those folks who hold those fall events could hold them deeper into October, but it's understandable that our weather in the Atlanta metro area could get dicey with forecasts filled with precipitation - and we see plenty of rainy October days that could threaten events. I feel that it's typically too hot for book-fests around Labor Day. OK, Decatur, I'm sure the current dates work best so if it's not broken, don't try to fix it. Nevertheless  I prefer my Decatur visits in the autumn even though I enjoy the book-fest and recommend attending when it's held in early September. Yes, that's early September, still summer, not fall. Then there's Labor Day - it should be cool on Labor Day, but most of the time, it's just another summer day.

How about those fall events held as the lead-up to Halloween? I'm sorry but to me, running around in those corn stalks when it's in the high 80s/low 90s is not my idea of celebrating the run-up to Halloween. Speaking of Halloween, those seasonal stores are open again. I wrote about this trend last year and it looks to be expanding. Ugh! How can anyone think about Halloween when the pools are still open, the myriad of Atlanta-area blacktop is steaming and our cars heat up to 200 degrees on a mild, broken cloudy day?

Certainly many of our area's pools are packing up for the season since most students head back to school over two weeks ago, so it's understandable that puts most of us in the mindset that summer is over. The fact remains that there's still plenty of sizzling days ahead of us where the AC  units are still cranking. It could all be worse. We have yet to see those triple digit figures hit the Southeast or worse yet, an unbearable drought and forest fires like we're seeing in the Western U.S. states.

I don't see the cool-down until mid-to late-October or even early to mid-November. This has been a hot, humid, rainforest-like summer, so I'm pretty sure it won't feel like true autumn for quite some time. I'm puzzled why anyone would say that let's try to get those summer activities in before the leaves change, fall and litter our yards. Of course with weather, things can change on a dime and with this year's yucky summer, I certainly hope that it's the case. We could use a quick change to cooler temps. I honestly hope that my prediction is way off base and that we feel autumn when the calendar says that it's autumn.