Things are starting to get a little frosty around Wyoming, and there’s more expected in the future — just not the immediate future.
It’s the time of year when some regions of Wyoming start flirting with freezing. Nighttime temperatures in southeast and south-central Wyoming will get into the low 30s and high 20s, which means frost is possible.
That may be happening in some spots, but “it won’t be widespread,” said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day. “Some of the ‘usual suspects,’ like Laramie, Shirley Basin and Pinedale, will have a bit of a frosty morning when they wake up.”
So Long, Summer
With each passing day, nights are getting longer and days shorter. It’s the time of year when Wyoming starts running out of summer and warm weather.
Sept. 23 is the first official day of autumn, according to the calendar. When looking at Wyoming’s climatology, consistently frosty nights stick around this time.
“Statistically, the first freezes and hard frosts tend to happen in that last week of September or the first week of October. There’s no reason to think that won’t be the case (this year),” Day said.
However, frost doesn’t mean winter is near, or even snow. Nights are getting consistently cooler, but the first snow of the season is still weeks away, he said.
Get It While It's Good
There’s been a decent amount of summer in September, with warm temperatures and sunny skies. For the next few days, it will be more of the same, Day said.
“We’ve done pretty well this September,” Day said. “We haven’t had a big cold shot anywhere this month. And the next five to six days are going to be beautiful.”
The only people who might want to get proactive with the latest forecast are gardeners since frost tends to end growing seasons whether they like it or not. Otherwise, there’s nothing to fear from a little frost.
“This isn’t the type of cold that freezes underground sprinkler systems or anything like that,” Day said. “It’s just a reminder that seasons are changing.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
