Cornucopia 
Figure 1 . In Canada, the average temperature for autumn (September through November) 2008 was 1 .4° C above normal — the fifth 
warmest autumn since nationwide records began in 1948. Much of the country experienced more than a degree Celcius above normal, 
and the Arctic Islands experienced temperatures conditions in excess of three degrees above normal. In the past 1 1 years, only the 
springs of 2002 and 2004 in Canada have had temperatures below the long-term average — all other seasons have been above aver- 
age or near average. Much of the southern part of the country enjoyed an "Indian Summer" well into early October. Image courtesy 
and © of Environment (anada/Emironnement Canada. 
seventh coolest August-October period. The 
same is true of November, which was the 
fourth warmest in the West (the eighth 
warmest on record in Colorado, fifth in 
Wyoming), whereas the Southeast was much 
cooler than normal. The West thus had a 
record warm June-November period: Cali- 
fornia set a record for its warmest June- 
November, while both Nevada and Utah had 
their fifth warmest June-November period. 
While the summer season (including Au- 
gust) across the contiguous United States was 
overall above average in terms of precipitation 
(about 23 cm above average) and thus about 
the fifteenth wettest summer since 1895, Au- 
gust’s rank was ninth — quite wet in some ar- 
eas, especially Colorado, Georgia, Texas, 
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi (all-time 
wettest), Alabama, and Florida (the latter two 
with their second-wettest August). Tropical 
Storm Fay reduced some rainfall deficits 
along the Atlantic coast, significantly in some 
places, while Tropical Storm Edouard eased 
the southern Texas drought. By contrast, sev- 
eral states had Augusts much drier than aver- 
age; Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin (sixth driest), and Delaware 
(driest on record). 
West of the Rockies, August precipitation 
was scattered and scarce, and the same held 
true in the West the next month, where Cali- 
fornia recorded its driest September ever. In 
the East, local dry conditions were eased by 
the remnants of hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, 
and Ike, which brought heavy rains from 
Texas and Louisiana to Michigan and Ontario 
through the Northeast. Even Cimarron Coun- 
ty, Oklahoma, which had been quite dry, en- 
joyed the bounty of both Gustav and Ike. De- 
spite these rains, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, 
and Tennessee still had one of their driest 
Septembers on record, and extreme drought 
conditions persisted in southern Appalachia 
and environs, from northern Georgia to 
southeastern Kentucky (Figure 2). Ten states, 
most of them in the paths of tropical systems, 
recorded one of their top-ten Septembers for 
precipitation: Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, 
Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Missouri, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. 
October was a different story: drier than av- 
erage across much of the West, the western 
Gulf Coast States, and the mid-Atlantic States, 
wetter in the Great Plains from the Texas pan- 
handle to the Dakotas, west to Wyoming and 
Montana and east to Minnesota. In fact, it was 
the wettest October on record in Nebraska, 
with about 11.3 cm. By the end of October, 
Nevada marked its third driest Au- 
gust-October stretch, Kentucky its fifth, Ida- 
ho its sixth, and Ohio its seventh. 
November continued to see above-normal 
precipitation in the same Montana-to-Min- 
nesota tier, but the South and middle states 
were drier than usual, with much of the Mid- 
west receiving rains totaling only half of aver- 
age. Late November brought chilly tempera- 
tures and the first heavy snowfalls across 
southern Canada and the northern tier of the 
United States, south to Iowa and Appalachia. 
The mountain areas of North Carolina had 
their snowiest November in many years. As 
we have now come to expect, at least in most 
seasons, first half of November brought a 
strong low-pressure system originating in the 
Central Plains that bore western and central 
species eastward, from Ontario to Newfound- 
land and south through the mid-Atlantic, 
among them Cave Swallows and Franklin’s 
Gulls in some numbers. In two other regions, 
we read consistently in the autumn reports 
about relationships between weather patterns 
and bird records: the central Gulf coast and 
Alaska. Greg Jackson notes specific dates for 
“productive” cold fronts in Alabama and Mis- 
sissippi, while Thede Tobish writes that Alas- 
ka’s “mild, storm-free season” produced few 
“rarities from either northeastern Asia or 
North America, and [...] protracted south- 
bound migration and limited notable concen- 
trations of birds.” Even Alaskan birding can 
have an off year, it seems, though St. Paul Is- 
land had an exceptional snipe. 
Storm birds 
It’s a rare autumn indeed in which records of 
hurricane-displaced birds span two-thirds of 
VOLUME 63 (2009) 
NUMBER 1 
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