The autumnal equinox is Sept. 22, but changing the calendar from August to September symbolizes the start of fall to many people.
"People start thinking it's fall with football games and everything," said Mario Valverde, meteorologist-in-charge for National Weather Service-Shreveport, La. "September is a transition time."
The autumnal equinox-also called the September or fall equinox-is the astronomical start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.
What type of fall is the forecast showing for our area?
The forecast through November shows above-normal temperatures with a normal amount of precipitation, Valverde said.
"We should have a warm start to fall. Some places have been pretty dry; there has been an ongoing drought in our area, and that will continue," he said.
Things should start cooling off later in September.
"If we can get a couple of cold fronts to cool us off, we should not have to worry about any tropical systems," Valverde said.
"The outlook is a fairly normal fall, then we will transition to a wetter wintertime. We will be keeping our eyes on that."
From December on, this outlook is calling for near-normal temperatures but above-normal precipitation."
"Farmers' Almanac" also forecast above-normal precipitation for much of the country in January and February 2019.
Colder-than-normal conditions are predicted from the Continental Divide east through the Appalachians.
According to information from "Farmers' Almanac" this area is expected to be "Stinging cold with average precipitation."
"Contrary to the stories storming the web, our time-tested, long-range formula is pointing toward a very long, cold and snow-filled winter," editor Peter Geiger said in a statement on the company's website. "We stand by our forecast and formula, which accurately predicted the many storms last winter, as well as this summer's steamy, hot conditions."
Looking back on the summer, the Texarkana area saw its hottest days at the end of July.
"We had four days at the end of July when Texarkana was 100 or above. And two days that were 99. There were not any 100-degree days in August," Valverde said.
Of course the heat index made those 100-degree days seem even hotter.
"It was toasty," Valverde said.
However, no heat records were set in Texarkana this summer.
Things cooled down some in early August, with some rain and temperatures in the lower 90s at the beginning of the month.