Autumn see-saw continues

Having a difficult time figuring out whether to pack the warm-weather clothes away ... or deciding exactly what to wear each day?

Our weather pattern is a see-saw affair, switching from late-autumn to early-autumn conditions every few days. And we're about to go into another dip -- followed, naturally, but another climb.

This pattern is something you'd expect at the time of year when things are about to change in a big way.

Autumn will give way to winter soon, and what we're seeing now is a sort of back-and-forth of seasons. We have a few mild days, and then the temperature tumbles for another two or three days.

I got an email from Mecklenburg County commissioner Bill James, who noted that the current pattern is a working definition of Indian summer, and he's right. The traditional definition of "Indian summer" is a period of mild weather after a hard freeze. We've had freezing weather twice in recent weeks, and milder periods followed those freezes.

Temperatures today are expected to reach the middle 70s, with lower 70s again Wednesday as a cold front approaches the area. Then we fall, with highs in the lower 60s Thursday and the lower 50s Friday.

Then it's back up again, with 60 degrees Saturday, the upper 60s Sunday, and then the lower 70s Monday.

Guess what follows that?

How about cold weather for Thanksgiving (I saw one forecast of rain and a high of 42 degrees), followed by much warmer conditions on Thanksgiving weekend ... followed by (sigh!) a return to cold in the week after Thanksgiving.

Some meteorologists have predicted this back-and-forth pattern is what we can expect for much of the winter. Typically, though, we settle into more prolonged periods of cold and then mild temperatures.

Stay tuned.