Autumn is known for its shorter days, colorful leafy landscapes and cool, crisp nights, but Americans looking forward to these fall staples may need to wait a little longer this year as summer lingers across much of the United States.

The autumnal equinox will mark the official changing of the seasons with fall kicking off on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 9:30 a.m. EDT. This may seem like a long ways away for some, but AccuWeather’s team of long-range forecasters have been busy for weeks analyzing global weather patterns and different forecasting tools to paint a picture of what weather will unfold across the United States in the coming months. The team is led by Paul Pastelok, a senior meteorologist who has been with AccuWeather for nearly three decades.

One big factor being taken into consideration for the 2020 U.S. fall forecast is the development of La Niña. This is a phenomenon in which the ocean near the equator of the Pacific Ocean is cooler than normal, a change that can influence the global weather pattern. La Niña is the opposite of El Niño.

2020 FALL FORECAST

Even with the changing of the seasons in September, it may still feel like summer for many across the U.S. as warm weather holds strong over much of the country. October will be a major turning point in the season for tempera tures in the central and northwestern U.S., while residents near the Atlantic and Gulf coasts remain vigilant amid a very active hurricane season.

PLAINS AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS

Similar to areas east of the Mississippi River, people across the nation’s midsection can expect the summer warmth to linger into the onset of autumn, but a dramatic change in the weather pattern is in the cards come October.

“There’s one change that we do see, and a lot of it is probably produced by La Niña,” Pastelok said.

La Niña could help to amplify the jet stream in October and November, leading to a potentially active weather pattern across the central Plains. This includes the risk of severe weather in places around Kansas City and St. Louis.

As the weather pattern turns more active across the Plains, it will deliver some much-needed rain to drought-stricken areas of the region.

According to the U.S. drought monitor, severe to extreme drought conditions have developed in pockets of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. The drought could potentially expand further before the mid-season shift in the overall weather pattern.

Even during the second half of fall when storms frequent the region on a more regular basis, it will not be enough to erase the drought, which could have implications for farmers.

“The concern comes in Texas getting up toward Nebraska when we look at the winter wheat planting progress, which starts September through November,” Pastelok said. “If we don’t start getting rain early on, it may be a little slow going for the planting season coming up this year.”

The worsening drought has already taken a toll on cotton farmers in the Texas Panhandle. According to ABC7 Amarillo, 90% of the dry land cotton that was planted in Carson County did not even sprout. This is one of nine counties in the Texas Panhandle that has been designated as a primary natural disaster area, which allows farmers to be eligible for emergency loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In addition to bringing more rain and thunderstorms, the midseason flip in the weather pattern will help to blanket the southern and central Rockies with fresh snow, allowing ski resorts to get an early base set at the start of the upcoming ski season.

“It is not uncommon for Colorado to go from very warm or hot weather to start off the season and then all of a sudden we’re ending up with piles of snow and skiers are just loving it just before the Thanksgiving holiday,” Pastelok said.