We've had some chilly periods of weather this fall, some days when the temperature barely got to 50^oF, some nights with frost on the windshield and on the grass. But each time chilly air arrived, a few days later milder air would make a comeback, and temperatures would eventually be back in the 60s or even 70s. In fact, the last month has been around three degrees warmer than average.

But we're at a time of year now when it'll become harder and harder to recover from chilly air masses. The sun's not getting very high in the sky at all anymore - in fact, today around lunchtime when the sun reached its highest level in the sky, it was still only about a third of the way up. Less direct sunshine not only means less warmth at ground level, but also that it's harder for the sun's energy to break through any clouds that happen to be around. You could really see that process at work yesterday and today as the low clouds were very stubborn.