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Weather: Last Day Of Summer Will Feel Like Fall

By Steve Strouss

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's been a superb stretch of September sunshine, with only the last few days on the cloudy side. We've added up 19 days with sunshine this month but we will have to wait one more day before we add another. Cloudy skies and cool temperatures are expected this afternoon which means our last day of Summer will feel more like Fall. Highs will top off in the low 70s as a cool breeze blows in off the ocean.

Set your clocks to welcome the Autumnal Equinox which arrives Wednesday morning at 4:21 a.m. Wednesday also happens to be the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and the last time the Equinox and the holiday occurred together was back in 1939. On the day of the Equinox, the sun spends about the same amount of time above and below the horizon everywhere on Earth. On September 23rd we will have 12 hours and 7 minutes of daylight in Philadelphia.

Mother Nature may have gotten confused because the first day of Fall will actually feel more like Summer with sunny skies and warmer temperatures. We are forecasting a high temperature around 80 degrees on Wednesday and the warmth continues through Thursday with clouds and sunshine.

Conditions will remain dry as we head into the weekend but temperatures will dive back down just in time for the Pope's arrival. The thermometer will dip into the lows 70s Saturday and Sunday and it will become breezy. We are watching an area of low pressure to the south, currently bringing rain to the Carolinas, which will spin slowly up the coast. As this low approaches winds will pick up especially along the coast but the bigger concern is the threat for rain during the Papal visit. We will have to monitor the progression of this system the next few days but for now we are keeping Saturday dry with a high of 74 and inserting a rain chance on Sunday with a high of 72.

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