It should get colder now, right?

Growing up in upstate New York, school typically started right after Labor Day. And right around that time was when it started to feel like fall: the weather started to cool, the days started to get noticeably shorter, and the leaves would start changing color. Many years later, I still associate the start of school with cooler weather.

Our daughter started school again this week; schools in the Bay Area typically start up again in mid-August. And despite the fact that I’ve had a decade of experience with her attending school here, I still find myself expecting cooler weather. I should be able to break out the sweaters, right? But no; thanks to a combination of being 2 weeks earlier than my childhood memories and California weather, there are 70s in the forecast for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, the current forecast for my parents (they still live in upstate NY) is 92 tomorrow. Thanks to climate change, associating the start of school with cooler weather may no longer be a thing.