Sunshine at noon for the kickoff for the Bears Game; Saturday has the last sunset after 6 p.m. for the year; Tropical Storm Norma affecting popular Mexican resort towns

No need for the raincoat or the heavy coat at Soldier Field on Sunday 

There will be plenty of sunshine as the Bears take on the Raiders with north wind of 5-10 mph.  

Saturday was the last sunset after 6 pm for the year… 

Boaters trying to get in the last few trips on the lake this season will be treated to skies becoming mostly sunny on Sunday.

NW winds of 15-25 kt, turn north and diminish to 10-15 kt for the afternoon.  The decrease in winds will lead to 4-6 ft. waves subsiding to 2-4 feet.

The fall colors across the Chicago area are expected to peak in the next week. 

Rain and wind later in the week will knock more leaves off trees, before they can reach their full colorful potential.  

The Legend of the Wooly Bear Caterpillar Forecasts

This time of year, you might see woolly bear caterpillars quickly making their way across roads in the Chicago area.  These woolly worms are the ones that are black on each end and have a reddish-brown band in the middle. 

There’s a rural wives’ tale that says the distribution of those colors can predict what kind of winter we’ll have.  The legend says winter will be cold if the caterpillar has a narrow, orange middle band, while the winter months will be warm if the band is wide.

The people who study insects, entomologists, have looked at this woolly worm winter theory and say the colors of these crawling creatures have no bearing on forecasting weather and can’t be used as predictor of winter’s severity.  They add, the caterpillars appear to be an indicator of past weather, however.

Woolly bears start with a body of black hair in the spring and as the year progresses, the hair starts to turn reddish-brown in the center.  There will be more brown hairs if summer is longer, fewer if summer is shorter.  Keep in mind ,there might be multiple generations during the growing season. 

While the caterpillars might not be predictors of weather, they can still be enjoyed for the colors they bring each fall.