What will the weather be like at Callaway Gardens and area parks this weekend?

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Callaway Gardens and F.D. Roosevelt State Park start Saturday at 56 degrees and top out near 80, while the RiverWalk in Columbus, Providence Canyon, Chewacla and Lakepoint all run from the 50s and low 60s in the morning into the 80s by afternoon with almost no rain chance. The single most useful number this weekend is the gap between 8 AM and 2 PM. At most of our parks it is more than 20 degrees. Sunshine, dry air and light wind let mornings start genuinely cool and afternoons climb fast, so if you have one hour to spend on a trail, spend it early.

The coolest starts are on the Pine Mountain ridge. Callaway Gardens and F.D. Roosevelt State Park both begin Saturday at 56 degrees under full sun, and 58 on Sunday. The ridge also holds the coolest afternoons in the area: 78 degrees at 2 PM Saturday at F.D. Roosevelt and 81 on Sunday, a few degrees below everywhere else. Callaway Gardens reaches 80 Saturday afternoon and 82 Sunday. If you want to be on Dowdell's Knob with the long view southeast, Saturday morning is about as pleasant as late September gets.

On the Chattahoochee RiverWalk between Columbus and Phenix City, Saturday starts at 59 degrees with sunshine and no wind, then reaches 83 by 2 PM with a 5 mile an hour breeze. Sunday runs 61 degrees at 8 AM and 85 in the afternoon, with just a 2 percent rain chance. Water and shade matter more than a jacket on the second half of a mid-afternoon walk there.

Providence Canyon near Lumpkin sits between the two: 58 degrees at 8 AM Saturday, 81 at 2 PM, and 59 and 83 on Sunday. The canyon floor is open to the sky, and the light down there is better early than at midday.

Chewacla State Park just south of Auburn has the mildest mornings on the list, 63 degrees Saturday and 65 Sunday at 8 AM, warming to 82 and 84. If a 56-degree start sounds too brisk, that is your park. Lakepoint State Park at Eufaula is the warm end of the area in both directions: 62 degrees Saturday morning, 84 in the afternoon, then 64 and 86 on Sunday.

Rain is not a factor at any of them. Chances run from zero to 3 percent, wind is calm both mornings and only about 5 miles an hour in the afternoons. The Canadian air moving in is unusually dry for late September, holding less moisture than in three-quarters of an inch of rain through the whole depth of the atmosphere, which is why an 80-degree afternoon should feel lighter than the same number felt earlier this month, and why shade will be worth stepping into.

What to wear: a long-sleeve layer at 8 AM that you will take off within the hour, short sleeves and a hat for the afternoon, and no rain gear at all. One more thing to plan around — the sun sets at 7:33 this evening and we lose roughly two minutes of daylight a day, so an after-work lap on the RiverWalk is now finishing in twilight rather than daylight.

Day	High	Low	Rain	Conditions
TODAY	80°	61°	5%	Partly Sunny
FRI	82°	58°	0%	Sunny
SAT	85°	60°	0%	Sunny
SUN	87°	60°	2%	Mostly Sunny
MON	87°	62°	13%	Sunny
TUE	90°	65°	6%	Sunny
WED	91°	68°	20%	Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms

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