by Northern News Now meteorologist Dave Anderson

When they put the J-turn on Highway 53 by Cotton, I saw some fellow just plow straight through to cross the road. On a recent Thursday, I was heading south on 53 into the new roundabout by Eveleth. A sign in the left lane made it look like you could take a left turn. Sure enough on Friday as I was heading north on 53 through the roundabout, someone was going left into traffic at that spot. Uffda, I have a feeling that’s going to become a frequent problem. It goes to show signs can be confusing.

Signs for the upcoming winter are confusing, too. One of the popular almanacs says it will be cold and snowy. Another says it will be warm and dry. NOAA’s system has three categories: warmer than normal, cooler than normal and equal chances which means things could go either way. Right now, they say equal chances.

The forecast for fall is a little more definitive. Signs are that it will be cool and dry. One of the almanacs thinks two degrees cooler and one inch of rain drier. October 1-6 should be near normal with rain and snow showers. The 7th to 13th should turn mild and showery. The 14th to 22nd will turn cooler with rain snow mixes returning. The rest of the month should turn sunny, cool and dry.

Just in case you are interested, the stats for the summer of 2025 have been compiled. National Weather Service Duluth keeps track of climate records for International Falls, Duluth, Brainerd, Hibbing and Ashland. Averaging those zones for the three months of summer gives us a departure from normal mean temp of plus .2 of a degree. The range of normal climate variability around here remains plus or minus .8 of a degree. So, the summer of 25 was quite normal.