Hello and welcome back for another look at wild weather this week!

Last week, we had two wild stories, one focusing on the hurricanes and typhoons across the globe, and the other was a special edition that focused only on Hurricane Ian. After such a heavy week, I wanted to talk about some lighter, less gruesome weather. It’s October so we’ll talk about the fall foliage in the Northeast, an aurora borealis visible in the U.K., and a rare late-season dust storm in Phoenix.

Fall colors have arrived in the U.S.:

We’ve had some great autumn weather here in Houston, and folks all across the area have even begun to decorate their yards with Halloween decorations. Up in the northeast, Mother Nature has also began to show its fall spirit! Take a look at the vibrant colors in Vermont (near Somerset Reservoir) as the leaves turn from green to a gorgeous red and gold! The colors will continue to peak in Vermont through mid-October.

Northern lights in the U.K.:

You absolutely have to check out this video! The aurora borealis was captured at the Kielder Observatory, in Northumberland, England on Oct. 2. One of the best times to view the aurora in the U.K. is actually around the autumnal equinox due to geomagnetic and solar activity.

Haboob rolls through Phoenix:

On Monday, a dust storm -- known in the weather community as a “haboob” -- hit the Phoenix area. This led to near zero visibility, and was actually caused by an outflow boundary from a thunderstorm! An outflow boundary, or a gust front, is a burst of cooler air and in this case it picked up and carried dust! This is actually pretty late to see a dust storm in Arizona, typically these occur during monsoon season which ends Sept. 30.