Pat Shingleton for Oct. 21, 2012

In other sections of the United States, it is not unusual for a winter weather alert to be issued at this time of the year, and many locations are awaiting their first frost. An extended period of dry, warm days following a frost is common, and as noted in a previous column, this describes Indian summer. In Europe, this same weather pattern is called Old Wives’ summer, Halcyion days, St. Martin’s summer, St. Luke’s summer and All-hallown summer. There are years when Indian summer doesn’t occur while numerous episodes have been reported in other years. My weather diary included an email received from Marsha Reichle, where she said the reason it is called Indian summer is because it is traditionally followed by Apache fog.

Fastcast: Sunny, warmer, nice.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION:

TODAY: Beautiful (sun) 84/58

MONDAY: Warmer (sun) 85/61

TUESDAY: Still Sunny (sun) 85/61

WEDNESDAY: Comfortable (partly cloudy) 85/64

THURSDAY: More Clouds (partly cloudy) 85/63

FRIDAY: Cloudy, Warm (cloudy) 84/62