By Lillian Gutsch,
Staff Writer.
It’s well known that the weather and temperature recently have been hotter, more humid and less rainy. The hot temperatures have shocked those within the community, making many wonder why it’s so warm this late in the year.
During early to mid-October, Santa Rosa went through a huge heat wave. With average high temperatures reaching around 105 degrees Fahrenheit and average low temperatures only hitting around 52 degrees Fahrenheit, it was a blistering week. The weather would be cool in the early morning and in the late evening, yet between those times it would be outrageously hot. Because of this extreme heat wave, many sports teams adapted by holding early morning practices or even just canceling practice in general.
The sudden fluctuations in temperature were very confusing for many students on the Santa Rosa High School campus. Deciding what to wear so that they weren’t too hot or too cold at any point in the day was a struggle. “I was really confused because it was October, and it doesn’t need to be hot in October. I kind of just wore long sleeves anyways because that’s just who I am,” said freshman Anika Marcuson.
Whilst wearing long sleeves is a solid choice to deal with the cold morning temperatures, once the heat sweeps in it makes for a very uncomfortable rest of the day. When asked how she dealt with the sudden increase in temperature, librarian Joanna Kiesel said, “Poorly. I just kept drinking my iced coffees and wearing sweatshirts when I needed to.”
While some of the extremity can be attributed to “Mother Nature [who] likes to mess with us,” as Kiesel put it, climate change is still undeniable. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses are increasing in the Earth’s atmosphere. In response, average temperatures at the Earth’s surface are increasing and are expected to continue rising.” This means climate change is a key factor in the rise of temperatures. As we continue emitting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, temperatures continue to rise.
Luckily, the temperatures started to cool down as we approached November. According to WeatherSpark, the daily high temperatures should decrease by 10 degrees Fahrenheit, from 70 degrees to 60 degrees, rarely falling below 54 degrees or exceeding 80 degrees. Meanwhile, the daily low temperatures should decrease by 5 degrees Fahrenheit, from 44 degrees to 40 degrees, rarely falling below 30 degrees or exceeding 53 degrees.
Now, according to Kiesel, this change in November instead of October isn’t very unusual for the city of Santa Rosa. “I think we all expect it to change [when October comes] because that’s what we’ve been conditioned to expect from TV shows and stuff. But around here, it doesn’t tend to cool off until Halloween,” said Kiesel. So, in accordance with decreasing temperatures, have fun wearing your warm and fuzzy socks.
