The Fall season here at New Mexico State began with a full week of high temperatures nearing 90 degrees. Students have had to trudge through sweltering October heat to their classes, enjoying (or suffering) through the unseasonably warm temperatures throughout the month.

Like much of the mid/southwest, Las Cruces has been experiencing persistent hot temperatures this time around, with it being the second hottest year since 2000.

“The weather has been so polarized,” freshman Lillian Martinez said. “I thought with it being fall, it would get a little chiller.”

Predicting the weather is not an easy task, but a discussion with state climatologist Dave DuBois spoke on how the weather and future climate changes could affect the NMSU community.

“It hasn’t been getting as cold as it used to,” DuBois said. “This is broken down into taking some temperatures throughout the day, and summarize it as our highs and lows – this shows why it has been consistently so hot.”

To the relief of some and disappointment to others, the high temperatures students are facing will be expected even as technically, the autumn weather and cooling of daily highs should be upon us. With temperatures in the high-to-mid 80’s forecasted for much of the rest of the month, the NMSU community will be left wondering “when does fall actually begin?”

“It’s simple to just say it’ll be hot or cold, but there’s more to it –  you have to watch the variations of the weather patterns,” DuBois explained. “As of right now, the weather patterns are showing a lot of dry air from the Southwest.”

With the heat being a problem, there becomes risks for people’s health. But not to worry, DuBois says, as you should take the weather day by day.

“It’s all about updating yourself on the forecasts,” DuBois said. “For New Mexico, the forecast is showing above average throughout the rest of the year.”

With the weather being at the state it is, students shouldn’t worry about this affecting them too much. Las Cruces is somewhat surprisingly warm majority of the time, but with the activities people do – it’s noted to make sure you stay hydrated – the temperatures may be in the 80’s but can feel much hotter than it actually is.

“This weather doesn’t help with a lot of everyday situations,” DuBois said. “Our studies have shown that heat is causing the season to become longer; making allergies, and heat exhaustion the biggest problems we’ll face in the transition.”

Looking ahead, temperatures for the next 15 days will be, mid 80’s for the highest and low 50’s for the lowest – compared to the October average of 80’s to upper 70’s.

“Currently our climate is in neutral,” DuBois said. “We all think of probabilities, when we think of forecasts – all we can say for right now is it’s likely to be a lot warmer than the average.”