Wood

Wood

LAURINBURG — Autumn officially arrived last week and cooler weather should begin to move in this week, thanks to a cold front moving toward Scotland County.

While the next couple of days will be rainy with highs above 70 degrees, the weather will go down down when the sun does.

According to the National Weather Service out of Raleigh, Tuesday will see heavy showers with a high of 81 and a low of 65. Showers will likely continue into Wednesday with a high of 72 and a low of 55.

Thursday will continue the trend, with a low of 56 and a high of 76, but on Friday things will begin to change. While the high will be 72 Friday, the low is expected to struggle to the 50 mark. Following the cooling trend, Saturday is expected to see a low of 49 with a high of 69.

There is also an expected extended period of time of dry weather.

According to Scotland County Cooperative Extension Director Randy Wood, the drop in temperatures won’t affect the current harvest but crushes the hopes of farmers who were hoping for a late cotton harvest.

“Cotton had a really bad start this year,” Wood said. “So farmers were looking for a great late season to make up for it — but it doesn’t look like that will happen. It’s not something that usually happens anyway, but the crop hasn’t done great this year.”

Wood added that harvesting season will begin in the next two weeks for the cotton crop, along with soybeans and peanuts.

“The Atlantic is quiet right now, which is good for harvest season,” Wood said. “Next week is going to be cool and dry so that’s going to be good for harvesting.”

Coloring the leaves

The drop in temperature also means that leaves could begin changing colors sooner.

According to Explore Asheville, trees in the mountains are beginning to see the fall color change, while the lower elevation areas will have colors extending into November.

The Farmer’s Almanac states that the weather for fall in the southeastern part of the country will have “pleasant temperatures, unsettled by late fall.” However, it is expecting the winter to be colder than normal — “the southeastern part of the country, excluding the Tennessee Valley, will experience average precipitation levels with temperatures chillier than normal overall.”

Reach Katelin Gandee at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.