Coldest air of the season heading to Mid-Missouri

Fall is known as the season where it begins to get cooler, the leaves change, pleasant afternoons await everyone and Mid-Missouri experiences it’s first freeze.

This year, however, nearly half of all days since September 1 have seen temperatures anywhere from four to 20 degrees above average. This weather has many longing for the cooler days.

While it has been on the warm side, we haven’t broken any records this fall, but it seems many have had their hopes broken when it comes to bonfire weather. That is until this week, as a parade of cold fronts will bring the coldest air of the season.

Cold air has been pooling across Northern Canada, where temperatures this week have been anywhere from the single digits to the twenties for highs. This cold air will pool into Mid-Missouri through this week, gradually reinforcing the cold air. By the weekend, many of us will be reaching for our sweaters for the first time in quite a while.

While our first freeze for Mid-Missouri the past few years has arrived nearly a month after the average first freeze, this year it will only be a week late. It’s this upcoming cold snap that will effectively end the growing season that has been going strong since the middle of March.

This cold snap could affect the fall foliage across Mid-Missouri, despite how dull it has been. Thanks to the abnormally warm fall, the dull colors will remain in place across the region, but the windy conditions in place today and freeze later this week will likely kill the thin and fragile leaves.

Stay with ABC17 Stormtrack as we continue to following the changing conditions and follow us on Twitter @ABC17Stormtrack.