The North Carolina State Climate Office has released their monthly climate summary for September. In short, A warm start to last month gave way to a more seasonable finish, while a mostly dry month saw needed rain across parts of the Piedmont. That pattern change has also spurred on changing leaves, beginning in the west.
You can access the full report at https://climate.ncsu.edu/blog/2021/10/falls-arrival-comes-with-a-september-pattern-and-leaf-color-change/.
