It’s the thing that, according to the saying, everybody complains about but nobody does anything.

Since the fall, which I don’t believe we had, the weather has been driving us in circles, forcing us to make last-minute decisions about clothing or whether to travel someplace.

Forecasts tease us with rain that never comes and severe weather that wimps out before it reaches us. You don’t know how to dress from one day to the other with morning temperatures in the 30s and highs in the 70s close to 80 degrees. We have had, since the last trick-or-treater took that last piece of candy, periods that rivaled summer and others that rivaled winter. We’ve had cold, wet days and hot, dry days. We’ve gone to work or school in heavy coats and gloves and come home with our sleeves rolled up and dragging the coats.

I’m no scientist, but I do try and keep up with the weather, and I’ve read several articles that say we are now in a La Niña year for the third year. According to what I’ve read, we in the Southeast are expected to have warmer than normal temperatures during a La Niña year. Whether we’ll be in a drier period depends on the map and graph you read.

I believe we went through the temperature issues during the past summer, when temperatures soared into the 90-plus and triple-digits and the humidity reached just as high, meaning the minute you walked outside you thought you were in a sauna. It was also very dry, with many areas of the country in drought conditions and the Mississippi looking more like a big stream than a river.

So what about our area’s relation to all this mess?

Well, a check of my weather apps (I have two; during hurricane season, three. I’m still looking for a good radar app) indicates we can expect temperatures with lows ranging from the upper 30s to the 50s and highs from the upper 50s into the 70s, depending on which weather app you may have on your phone. Are those predictions guaranteed? Nope. Neither is the possibility that some major front with nasty weather won’t flare up and threaten us.

Which reminds me. Weather-wise, we’ve had some close calls with severe weather in the past, which means some folks out there may become complacent and drop their guard.

I worked on the Coast for 10 years and people there treated every missed storm as a lesson to stay ready. So folks, keep your emergency supplies and packs ready with flashlights and a radio with good batteries. You never know when we’re going to get hit and you’ll need your stuff. As for La Niña? Just enjoy the mystery.