Fall: Where Are You? Record Heat Bakes South

Autumn across the eastern US usually brings a bit of relief from summer's intense heat, but not so far this year.  

Here we are nearly two weeks into the fall season and record-high heat is baking the southern US, smashing October records in dozens of cities and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "Indian Summer."

How high will it go? As high as 100 degrees today and into tomorrow.

At Reagan National Airport in the nation's capital, temperatures on Wednesday reached a sweltering all-time high of 97 degrees, breaking the record for October.

Those higher temperatures are increasing cooling costs in many cities. Accuweather reports that from Boston to New Orleans, the increase in cooling costs ranges from 34 to 20 percent higher.

And northern parts of the country that normally start turning on the heat to deal with plunging temperatures, haven't had to do much of that.

"The heating season kicked off on Sept. 1, but estimated heating costs are low across the country. Denver, for example, is 83.5% below normal through Sept. 26, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, is 71.5% below normal," Accuweather reports.

It's all due to a shift in the Jet Stream which has been pulling warmer southern temperatures up north.

The good news for Americans who are sick of summer is that a cool-down is expected for the weekend, and hopefully that autumn weather will be here to say.