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Goodbye, summer, for autumn's here
Cooler temperatures, less humidity and thus more outdoor adventures signal fall’s arrival.
By Melanie Ave and Brady Dennis
Published October 10, 2006
No changing leaves mark Florida’s release from summer’s sweaty stranglehold.
No Kodak moment of gold, crimson and rust.
Yet autumn, in all its subtlety, has begun its embrace.
Levi Cunningham Jr. noticed it Sunday morning at church.
“Everybody had these beautiful smiles on their faces,” said the 53-year-old machinist, as he waxed his 2003 GMC Yukon Tuesday under the shade of a St. Petersburg palm tree. “They were calm. I just knew it was the weather.”
Low temperatures have dropped into the 60s in the past week in Tampa Bay. Highs, normally in the 90s, have crept into the 80s. Humidity levels have dropped by 20 percentage points.
“Our summer season is basically over,” said meteorologist Anthony Reynes of the National Weather Service in Ruskin.
Cold fronts are making regular visits now, kicking out the tropical showers from the Gulf of Mexico and allowing northern winds to blow. Another cold front is expected by week’s end.
The cooler weather came not a moment too soon for Reginald McCarter, 44, who slipped away early Tuesday from his construction job to soak up the fall air and fish the banks of the Hillsborough River in Tampa.
“I’m comfortable,” McCarter said. “It’s good when it cools down.”
He fishes most weekends and usually wears a wide-brimmed hat to shield him from the blazing sun. On Tuesday, he left the hat at home.
He said he gets more bites when the water cools. Within an hour, he’d already caught three fish and a crab.
[Last modified October 10, 2006, 22:36:49]
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