By this time of year, our first frost usually is two weeks behind us.

But, with Halloween just five days away, roses and begonias still are blooming. And that pumpkin you put on the front step as a festive Halloween decoration? Baked into goo by the hot sun.

Admit it: you've turned on the AC in the past week.

We have sweated our way through what will be the warmest October on record, a month when two days in the 90s set records for high temperatures.

When all is said and done, even with the cooler weather predicted for next week, this month's average temperature will be about 9 degrees above normal, shattering the record of the previously warmest October in 1964, according to data from Millersville University.

Chillier weather finally arrived this week and may be here to stay.

"The pattern is slowly shifting to a more seasonable configuration," says Millersville University meteorologist Eric Horst. "We'll see an infusion of more seasonably chilly air."

Temperatures may hit 70 Saturday but then will drop into the 50s and 60s next week.

With the cooler weather has come some much-needed rain for the county, under a drought watch since early this month.

Our summery fall has been caused by the persistence of a Bermuda high pattern, which leads to warm, dry weather, Horst says.

Also, credit the La Nina weather pattern, a cooling of Pacific Ocean waters that creates milder and drier weather in the Northeast.

The delayed fall has followed the curious pattern of this year's seasons.

Winter started things off by arriving late, with the first 1-inch snow not falling until Feb. 2. Snow continued to fall into March and April was 3 degrees chillier, making for a later start to spring as well.

Summer? It also took its own sweet time in arriving, with excellent pool weather delayed by a cool June.

So perhaps it's no surprise that fall dragged its feet.

And don't expect fall to drop down like a hammer now.

"Some years, you flick a switch and go from warm to cold," Horst says. "I don't see that happening. I see this as a gradual transition."

The absence of fall has been noted by local gardener Christina Hausner and by air conditioning and heating technician Will Hutchinson.

Hausner's roses are blooming in her Lancaster yard, as is clematis, which normally blooms in the spring.

"Things are sort of confused," says Hausner, a Master Gardener with the Penn State Cooperative Extension program.

Grass still is growing and outdoor flower containers still look good, she says.

"I'm a little tired of tending to things," Hausner admits. "You just don't have the same enthusiasm for watering."

Hutchinson says he's still going on air conditioning service calls for Lancaster Plumbing & Heating Co. That's actually not that unusual, but he has had few heating service calls, other than for those who are preparing their systems for winter.

"Most people haven't run their heat," he says.

At his own home, Hutchinson says he ran the air conditioning earlier this week, to take the humidity out of the air.

"It struck me as odd," he acknowledges. "This is the time of year we enjoy opening the windows, having cooler nights."

CONTACT US: cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024