The polar vortex is stirring up, bringing the earliest hints that the weather is changing with the new fall season.
This means gradual cool-downs, although Kansans may not feel the chill quite yet.
Above-normal temperatures for this time of year are considered likely during October, November and December in the Sunflower State, said a graphic put out Sept. 18 by the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.
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Still, history shows Kansans can expect their first freeze of the cold-weather season within the next month.
A seasonal temperature map for the United States issued by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center on Sept. 18 for October, November, and December of 2025.
When does Topeka usually see its first freeze?
The closest Topeka has come to a freeze this year came Sept. 7, when the temperature dipped to 47 degrees here.
Mother Nature has since given capital city residents no reason to go outside and cover their plants.
Overnight lows have all been in the 50s and 60s, a trend the National Weather Service predicts will continue for the rest of this week.
Topeka's earliest freeze on record during the cold-weather season came on Sept. 22, 1995, and its latest on Nov. 21, 1944, the weather service said.
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The median annual date for Topeka's first freeze between 1991 and 2020 was Oct. 20, said a graphic posted on the website of the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University.
Last year's first freeze came in mid-October throughout Kansas, "Thanks to a cold air mass that invaded the state and brought widespread lows in the 20s, with a few upper teens," the accompanying article said.
History shows Kansans can expect their first freeze of the cold-weather season within the next month.
When does the first freeze usually come elsewhere in Kansas?
K-State's agronomy department said a chance of 60% or greater exists that all of Kansas will see a first freeze by the end of October, with the probability being higher for earlier first-freeze dates in the west and north.
It provided median annual first-freeze dates for these other Kansas communities:
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Oberlin in northwest Kansas, Oct. 3.
Tribune in west-central Kansas, Oct. 7.
Goodland in northwest Kansas, Oct. 8.
Marysville in north-central Kansas, Oct. 9.
Hill City in northwest Kansas, Oct. 11.
Horton in northeast Kansas, Oct. 12.
Garden City in southwest Kansas, Oct. 14.
Manhattan in northeast Kansas, Oct. 15.
Russell in north-central Kansas, Oct. 17.
Concordia in north-central Kansas, Oct. 19.
Dodge City in southwest Kansas, Oct. 21.
Emporia in east-central Kansas, Pratt in south-central Kansas and Salina in north-central Kansas, Oct. 22.
Fort Scott and Sedan, both in southeast Kansas, Oct. 24.
Chanute in southeast Kansas and Olathe in northeast Kansas, Oct. 25.
Wichita in south-central Kansas, Oct. 28.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@annett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's when this fall's first freezes may happen throughout Kansas
[SRC] https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/kansas-might-see-first-freeze-090439595.html
