Jeremy Siegel: You're listening to Morning Edition. And I hope you, Paris, and everyone listening have enjoyed the beautiful weather the past few days because the rain that we have become so familiar with this summer is coming back.
Paris Alston: Lasting from one season to the next. Well, our meteorologist Dave Epstein is here to help us break down the forecast on this final day of summer — so, so sad — and to talk a little about his dual life as an expert gardener on top of being a weather guy. Good morning, Dave. How are you?
Dave Epstein: I'm great. Good morning to see both of you. Beautiful sunrise this morning. I just did a little walk with the dog and watching that sun come up almost due east, by the way. So if you want to know where east and west is over the next couple of days, because we're at the equinox, the sun is coming up at 90 degrees and setting at 270 degrees, so that gives you a nice idea of where east and west are.
Siegel: Oh, my gosh. That's fascinating. I can't wait to share that with more people. The sunrises have been just gorgeous the past few days. Like all I think like the past three of them. I mean, it's been stunning outside.
That said, another weekend of rain is coming. What's this going to be like? I mean, it feels like every weekend has been ruined by rain for the past couple of months at this point. What are we expecting?
Epstein: Yeah, it seems like at least one of the two weekend days have had a lot of rain. We haven't had a ton of straight, dry, sunny weekends for sure.
So here's what we've got going on. We've got a pretty interesting area of low pressure to our south over the upcoming weekend, and that's going to create an easterly winds. So tomorrow when you get up at this time, it's going to be cloudy. There may actually be some drizzle coming in offshore because of the easterly winds. So even though it might not be per se raining, there may be some mist or a little bit of drizzle in the air during the first few hours of the morning.
And then we're going to watch an area of steady to heavy rain try to move northward. I got to tell you, the question is how far North this goes. So I'm looking at one model as I'm talking to you guys. I want to just give you an idea of how tight this rainfall is. So this model through Saturday night gives like 3 inches of rain, over 3 inches to the Cape and the Islands and doesn't even give a 10th of an inch of rain as you get into Southern New Hampshire. So that gradient is so tight, does the heavy rain make it to Boston or not? It's going to be cloudy. It's going to be damp. I think the afternoon is one we'll have to watch that area of rain and see just how close it comes. It's a tropical system. It's kind of has tropical origins. It's going to pour where it rains, but it may be just a much lighter rain. A couple of showers north of the Mass Pike tomorrow. So it's, kind of, just look at radar apps and wait and see. But I think those folks in the Cape and the Islands should expect a pretty wet day for tomorrow, especially in the afternoon.
Alston: Wow. I love the urgency here, Dave. We are all now very, very invested in how this rain is going to shake out.
And also tomorrow is the first day of fall here. I did mention I am — I'm so sad that summer is ending. It's like one of my favorites.
Siegel: I'm a fall guy. I'm so stoked.
Alston: It is. I mean, it makes sense. Jeremy has ushered in fall with his birthday today, Dave, I don't know if you got —
Epstein: Oh, happy birthday, bud.
Siegel: Thank you.
Alston: And so any in any event, we know that there's going to be some rain. We know that the foliage is going to be impacted by all the rain that we've seen over the summer. But what else can we expect this fall?
Epstein: Yeah, well, I mean, you know, in terms of predicting what's going to happen with the fall, it's a little bit tough. I think that we're in a El Niño year and traditionally — and this is just an odds thing, right? It's like the I always said this, the odds of flipping a coin are 5050, but you could still get, you know, ten heads in a row — the odds are that the fall lingers later and it's warm longer into the fall. Doesn't mean we're not going to have cold mornings, doesn't mean we won't have frost. And that winter kind of has a later start because of El Niño. So I would say that that's you know, if you were if you were taking bets on what's going to happen, that's probably what's going to happen because of the strong El Niño that's developing.
I do think that to your point about the leaves, all this rain we're noticing now, you know, you don't know until it starts happening. A lot of the maples seem to have a lot of fungus and bacteria diseases on them, and they're just kind of turning brown and dropping. So it doesn't mean there's not going to be color. There always is color. There's always pockets of it, but it's not going to be as brilliant as other years just because there is a percentage of the trees that are not going to really change into their brilliant colors this year. I think the maples really seem to be affected by all the rain.
Siegel: Before we let you go, Dave, I wanted to mention that there is a new YouTube video where you break down things like advice for treating plants and covering them ahead of winter, because you're a gardening expert on top of being a meteorologist. I really suggest people watch it, if only because it's so much fun to see Dave, because you probably —
Alston: It's giving like Minnie Riperton "come into my garden" vibes.
Siegel: I know. I want to go to your garden after this, Dave. And people can go to the GBH News YouTube page to watch this. But watching it, it looks like you were literally inside of a terrarium. Do you have any idea how many plants you own?
Epstein: Well, I mean, there's probably 100 that come inside. But in terms of outside —
Siegel: Outside, I mean, it looks literally it looks like you're in a jungle. It's amazing.
Epstein: It's — I always say I'm like a cat lady with plants, right? It's like I just don't know when to say no. Somebody brings a plant, "Hey, can you take it." "OK, sure, I'll take care of it. No problem."
Alston: I love that. Well, listen, OK, now I want some some cuttings. The next time you have cuttings. We need some plants in the GBH studio.
Siegel: I don't know. I have a bad history. We're going to end up with some dead plants. Maybe with Dave's help.
Epstein: Exactly. Something for that window. I'll get you something for the window behind you.
Alston: That sounds great. Well, that is meteorologist Dave Epstein. Again, you can check that video out on the GBH News YouTube page. Dave, thank you so much.
Epstein: You're welcome. Have a great weekend.
Siegel: You too. This is GBH News.
Tomorrow is the first day of fall here in New England.
Typically, it's a time of year people flock to the region for leaf peeping. But this season, the foliage will be impacted by all the summer rain.
"A lot of the maples seem to have a lot of fungus and bacteria diseases on them, and they're just kind of turning brown and dropping," meteorologist Dave Epstein said on GBH's Morning Edition.
You'll still be able to find colorful foliage around New England — it just might be more of a search.
"There's always pockets of it," he explained, "but it's not going to be as brilliant as other years just because there is a percentage of the trees that are not going to really change into their brilliant colors this year."
Epstein said it's difficult to predict what autumn weather will be. As an El Niño year, he said the odds are that fall lingers and it remains warm for a longer period of time, giving us a later start to winter.
"If you were taking bets on what's going to happen, that's probably what's going to happen because of the strong El Niño that's developing," he said.
But nothing is certain.
"I always say this: The odds of flipping a coin are 50/50, but you could still get, you know, 10 heads in a row," Epstein said.
