Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/2015/10/winter-weather-awareness-thanks-but-no-thanks/)
Near the Stillwater-Yellowstone county line, a few dashes of color in a coulee.
Gates and shrubs, not far from Pioneer Park.
Cat tails, Riverfront Park.
This hasn't been a spectacular year for color, but the flaming-red sumac stands out all the more.
A flash of red, with the Rims in the background, north of Rimrock Road.
Leaves gather on a small rise, along Garden Avenue.
On the aptly named Woodland Drive, near MSU-Billings, arching branches form a green tunnel.
Rock Creek, near Red Lodge.
South of Broadview, withered sunflowers appear to be on the march.
Changing trees, near the sugar plant in Billings.
Against a backdrop of fall foliage, a horse grazes (well, at this moment he was looking at me, wondering what that clicking was) along Garden Avenue.
Outskirts of Red Lodge.
Brilliant shrubs, St. Vincent Healthcare campus.
A marshy patch of ground, southwest of Broadview.
You don't need a weatherman, just a flag and a wind sock, to know which way the wind blows.
Russian olive trees frame a view of the Rims from Mystic Park, Billings.
A press release that came in last week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration alerted me that this week, Oct. 5-9, had been designated “Winter Weather Awareness Week in Montana.”
The second sentence of the press release read:
“Each year, winter storms claim lives and cause millions of dollars in damage nationwide,” said Tom Frieders, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the Billings NWS office. “Winter Weather Awarness Week is that annual reminder that now is the time to prepare yourself, your home and your vehicle for the winter ahead.”
It went to describe how deaths and injuries often resulted from cold-weather exposure and auto accidents, and how livestock were smitten by the hand of winter. There were warnings about avalanches, carbon monoxide poisoning and structures collapsing under burdens of heavy snow.
Meanwhile, we were still enjoying one of the finest streaks of early-fall weather in the history of Montana, a frostless stretch of unusually warm weather and even some ridiculously hot weather. But no one complains about the heat this time of year. We just soak it in and hope it will last.
To encourage that mindset, I took a camera with me everywhere I went for a few days, trying to capture the beauty of our extended summery autumn.
I was still gathering photos when events showed that the weather guys were on the right track. There were snowstorms near Butte last weekend and a couple of very rainy days elsewhere in Montana. But then it turned glorious again and I got a few more photos, and I’m still inclined not to surrender to gloomy thoughts of winter just yet, however advisable that may be.
So I hope the photos above will help you appreciate how blessed we’ve been, and help you remember this magnificent fall when winter unmistakably arrives.
