Fall festivities are kicking off as October begins, with annual celebrations like the Fenner Nature Center Apple Butter Festival and Mason’s Witches on the Town taking place throughout the month.
But Mid-Michigan temperatures aren't dropping to match expectations of the usual crisp autumn weather.
Typical highs in Lansing and Jackson stick around the upper 60s at the beginning of the month and then drop to the mid-50s towards Halloween, according to the National Weather Service.
But this October's temperatures are predicted to stay warmer this season. The National Weather Service says highs will likely average in the mid-70s with fewer cold days.
However, MLive’s chief meteorologist Mark Torregrossa says those highs are likely to fluctuate throughout the month.
“For example, this weekend is crazy,” Torregrossa said. “This weekend is tank tops, flip flops, shorts and short sleeves all day long. 87 for a high temperature both Saturday and Sunday. Middle of next week, we have a cold front come through and we’re going to drop down by Wednesday or Thursday, having highs of 60.”
He said yo-yoing temperatures aren’t too uncommon this time of year.
But in the last decade, warmer weather and varying temperatures have become more common in the fall due to global warming and climate change.
In the next 10 years, Torregrossa predicts Lansing will have the same temperatures that southern Ohio has now.
That means Mid-Michigan's climate could become more suitable for bugs and pests.
“We get the spiders that they have in Ohio and Indiana. We eventually get the snakes they have,” Torregrossa said. “Eventually, they will move north, and they’ll be able to live here.”
Warming weather could also mean fewer white winters.
“To have what most of us would call a 1970s winter—cold at the start, stays cold all winter long and stays snowy all winter—is probably very tough to do with the warmer climate,” Torregrossa said.