A cold front has passed, temperatures have dropped, and it rained, but fall may not be here just yet for Nebraska and Iowa.
Despite the recent cooler air, the Climate Prediction Center favors warmer-than-average temperatures in late September, meaning the region could be about a month away from truly feeling like fall.
The phenomenon even has a name: false fall. Since 2020, every September in Omaha has seen a dip in temperatures followed by a return to summertime heat — a pattern driven by the higher sun angle and abundant moisture still present this time of year.
Omaha residents at the Old Market say they are ready for the season to change.
"Clean, dry, cool air. Light breezes. Hair that looks good," Pat Lee, a DC resident and Omaha native, said.
"The trees, I like to go into Fontanelle Forest," Betty, Pat's high school friend, said.
Even those who enjoy summer are welcoming the shift.
"I'm looking forward to the leaves changing as well, but definitely less humidity," Trudy, an employee at All About Me! Boutique, said.
But longtime Midwesterners are not getting their hopes up just yet.
"Well, that's news to me that we are getting close," Pat said.
According to seasonal averages, Omaha's average high drops into the 60s by mid-October and into the 50s by early November. Day-to-day temperatures will fluctuate, but the region is likely still about a month away from conditions that truly feel like fall.
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