Caterpillar follow-up & fall frost

Last week I mentioned finding a caterpillar while Millie and I were out for a walk and it was all black with no brown stripe. Well, our discovery today is just as confusing. This time, we find an all brown (or more yellow looking) caterpillar with no stripes. Maybe the bugs are just as puzzled about the upcoming winter as meteorologists, but as October begins, we are starting to see things change across much of the US. This is the time of year where the weather pattern begins strengthening and each passing system seems to bring in more cold air. Our days with highs in the 80s will be limited now and we are starting catch glimpses of possible snow as far south as Nebraska. If you've lived in Kansas for a long time, you probably already know that it can snow around here this month. Crazy to think about.

Most of us will see our first, fall frost this month too. As you would expect, it normally happens earlier in October for northwest Kansas, and later in south central. Every year is different, but the average, first fall frost is within the first 10 days of October for the northwest, and around October 26-28th for places like Wichita.

Our weather looks cooler heading into the first full week of the new month. And as the air continues to dry down, our rainfall events will likely be less frequent. This will not be an El Nino or a La Nina winter, so figuring out the long range pattern is extremely difficult at this time of the season. Maybe Millie's thick fur coat should tell us something about the approaching winter, but corgis always have a lot of hair, so scratch that idea.