second trip to quetico planned for september, 2nd week, what weather can we expect? cold weather gear necessary? rainy?

Ask us the 3rd week of Sept.  ::)

Temps have been cooler as of late but water temps are quite warm so if the current patters continue as "normal" I would expect day time highs is the upper 60's - lower 70's w/ night time lows in the 40's.  Sept. can be wet as well.  If you pull up the averages and history on various weather sites you can get a decent guestimate.

google for weather underground - check Ely weather for the same dates last year - look for record high and low temps, and you'll have an idea of the good, the bad and the ugly.  Do the same for Atkokan, though weather underground does not have the record highs and lows,
so you might have to find another site for Atikokan; and/or do International Falls.

I've done that before to answer somone's similar question on here I think, so do a search for weather in september, or underground maybe,  or something like that, and you might find it.

For the last few years I've printed out the 14 day graph from the Weather Network .com.
It has been amazingly accurate at least for my May trips the last few years  ;D
Of course since weather is so hard to predict, it works well as firestarter if the temps drop out ;D
 The last time I went in Sept towards the end of month, it was cold at night, first thing in morning, then t-shirt weather at noon and cold again when the sun starts to drop.
Like the spring, I used everything from shorts to Polar fleece. I was glad I had the options with me ;)
I think Sept is a great time to be in park [smiley=thumbup.gif]
I'm jealous ;D

I've had some of the best weather of all my trips in September. That being said a trip last year in the third week was one of the worst.

I don't approach an early or late trip much differently from a planning perspective with the possible exception of what sleeping bag I pack. What I do is take a look at the extended forecast just before the trip starts and maybe tweak a bit on the clothing (including footwear) and food that I pack. Not a really big deal, all things considered.

I heard that frost is predicted in some parts at least for tonight and maybe for a few more days down the road. So look at today as you would that day before entry - it will probably look worse. The weather this year has been atypical, and will probably continue to be so.

-aj

Portage Pooped -

The 3 day rain patterns CAN start in September.  Pack your best rain gear, tops & bottoms.  Rejoice when you get lucky & miss such an event!

Water is still quite warm.  Find yourself a sandy beach & enjoy a nice swim when it is sunny.

These are some of the best sleeping nights I've experienced in the park.  Cool nights; not cold.  Evening fires are welcomed (if they don't put the ban on, like I think they're about to).  You're likely to need that windbreaker/jacket in the evening hours.

You'll have the park to yourself.  You'll miss the leaves changing by two to two & a half weeks, however.

Yes, this season has been a bit atypical & predicting September is always a bit dicy.  For me, the "solitude" & renewed wildlife activity wipe out the negatives.

Wishing you a great trip,

Jimbo   8-)

wrote on Aug 16^th, 2007 at 1:28am:

second trip to quetico planned for september, 2nd week, what weather can we expect? cold weather gear necessary? rainy?

Whats your Entry I enter on the 7th PP.
qp

northern MN is predicted to drop into the 30's tonight.   fred

Right now we have a complete fire ban on in the border country, very dry all over.  Due to dryness I think leaf color change will be earlier and quicker than usual, done by 3rd week September.  Days can be windier, usually from west and northwest.  Today our early morning temp was 55 degrees, it feels cooler after dealing with extended periods of HOT weather recently.  IC

Here is your current, up-to-date mid-September forecast for the period of September 10-20, 2007.

10: Sunny, Hi 65, low 45
11: Partly cloudy, w/ chance of rain, Hi 57, low 34
12: Sunny, Hi 54, low 39
13: Rain w/ wind, Hi 42, low 28
14: Rain, Hi 37, low 25
15: Rain, changing to snow, Hi 34, low 22
16: Snow with 3-4" accumulation,windy, Hi 31, low 26
17: Partly sunny, Hi 42, low 29
18: Sunny and windy, Hi 49, low 36
19: Partly cloudy, Hi 67, low 46
20: Breezy and warm, Hi 82, low 65.

Thanks for asking.

;D :o :P :-X :-*

intrepid_camper wrote on Aug 18^th, 2007 at 3:37pm:

Due to dryness I think leaf color change will be earlier and quicker than usual, done by 3rd week September.

Roger that - we saw quite a bit of color changes during the second week of August. Mostly yellows, some reds and oranges.

-aj

During the 1 trip we took in the middle of Sept., I would describe the weather as sometimes being a bit windy. Looking at past weather patterns for the same time period seems to confirm this as being somewhat normal.

You might consider traveling early in the day, our progress was a bit slow going into the wind. While sitting at the end of the portage from Argo on the north side of crooked, a nearby tree actually fell over while we tried to decide if we should go out or not! I took a quick nap in my chair, and we departed an hour or so later, electing not to set up camp on the portage landing. We didn't have very far to go to catch a break from the wind thankfully, otherwise I would have stayed put.

Probably half of our trip had similar weather, but the souris handled it great.

Bet QP was REALLY glad he didn't start his trip from PP on the 6th!  Up to 5 inches of rain fell yesterday  :o .  We badly needed it.
Today he has to buck stiff W/NW winds instead  :P .
Talk about erratic weather...the day BEFORE yesterday the temps hit 88 degrees, a few days before that, the low in Embarrass (ice box of the states) was in the 30's.
Now we seem to have settled into average September weather:  mid-60's daytime and mid-40's at night; more windy days and rain forecast off and on for the week.
Except for having to get up when it is cooler outside, these are ideal temps for travelling.  Not too hot and not too cold  8-)

Lets see IC you were close about the rain on the 6th.  Moose Lake and PP reported close to 9 inches dumped in 24 hours.  AND we still had plenty of rain the rest of the week.
But the real kicker was Thursday.  
We came out of the South Lake channel to North Bay around 2 pm.  Sat on a very windy point till 5pm "gust had to be close to 30 mph".  We finally tucked into a campsite out of the wind.  At 2 am the wind was just as strong as it had been the afternoon before.  
Then about 5 am we broke camp.  I'll add to the fact we broke camp in a snow storm.  8-)  Fortunatly the wind had switch and was blowing out of the north.  Making North Bay easier but not peice of cake by any means.  
We planned to camp at Singing Brook last night.  But fishing in the wind was difficult so we opted to get on across Bayley Bay while the wind was in our favor.  Then we just decided to head on in from that point.  
Just walked in the door about an hour ago.  We drove straight thru in 15 1/2 hours.  
By the way a trip report will follow sometime  :)  but it will be a while.  Took over 800 pictures and about 5 hours of HD video.   ;D
It's going to take a little time to sort through the pic/video.  18 gig is a lot of data.  :o
qp
 

QP,

Great to hear your back OK.  Living here in Hibbing, I knew the weather that you guys sustained and said a few prayers for you. Looking forward to the report and pics as you piece then all together

WR