Unseasonably warm "fall" hits the Southeast

Across the southeast, record-breaking heat is heating millions of Americans right before the cooler weather moves back in. So let's get out live to Edisto Beach right now because that is where Chelsea Torres is standing by just outside of Charleston. And Chelsea, people there are, I guess, are they enjoying the fact that it still feels like summer? They get out on the sand near the water? Oh, absolutely, Paul. I mean, even when it was sunrise, there were so many people out here on the beach. Right now, the entire pier is filled with fishermen, a lot of surfers out in the water, and so many families just keep piling up onto the sand. I mean, this is exactly what people really hope for when you come here to the Charleston area. And for Charleston alone, I mean, they're seeing one of the warmest Octobers in the past few years. And throughout this entire year, they've seen degrees well above four degrees above average for the entire year. So, yeah, very warm. One woman who just moved here a couple of years ago told me that when she comes out here, she makes sure she only is out here in the mornings just so that way she does not feel that extreme heat. And meanwhile, others are telling me, yeah, they're wanting this to last as long as possible. It's been brutal. And our problem here is we have very high humidity. Heat like this, weather like this, it's perfect fishing time. I mean, fish comes in and bite for everybody, you know. That's why here's a Wednesday. You got guys out here on the dock fishing. October is typically a time to start enjoying fall foliage but for millions from Texas to New Jersey they'll just have to bear the heat a little bit longer and it's not just October but all year cities across the U.S. have had some of the warmest on record. So when we look at the southeast you guys already mentioned it but Charlotte and Atlanta they've had more than three degrees above average throughout the year and when we look throughout the rest of the country Houston, Dallas, even Las Vegas had their warmest days on record back in August and even Oklahoma City one of the top cities of the country that has seen six degrees above average throughout 2024 now guys you might be wondering well you know we're in mid-fall in mid-october so there's a lot of pumpkin patches around people are definitely already decorating for fall and i did reach out to a pumpkin expert and he said yeah you know your pumpkins should actually be okay they shouldn't be too affected by this heat but at least the good news is that there are those cooler temperatures that are coming here especially in this area and for the southeast i mean we are expecting to see those temperatures plummet at least to the 60s, 70s, so that'll be nice. I'm sure a lot of people will not be able to come out onto the beach as much by then, but I mean, hey, if you're going to get a tan, today's the day to do it. Paul? Is it for you to be standing there watching people surfing, talking about putting pumpkins out for Halloween? It's a little odd, yeah, but you know, I mean, this is not a bad day at the office, Paul. No, you know what? Look, if I could be there with you, I would. Chelsea looks very nice. Have a great day out there. We'll see you soon. OK, thank you.