Monday was the first day of autumn, but as you watch the leaves just starting to turn beautiful colors, look up for the possible presence of something else.

Snow.

The National Weather Service is calling for a chance of snow mixed in with rain this weekend, which a) set off alarms across the greater Coeur d’Alene area and b) prompted a panicked request to Press Meteorologist Randy Mann: Randy, say the snow ain’t so.

“It’s going to be close,” he said Monday afternoon.

Mann said “there’s a chance” Coeur d’Alene will see a rain and snow mix, but significant white stuff — officially, that’s as little as one-tenth of an inch — is less likely.

“Anything measurable would likely be to the north and over the mountains,” Mann said.

While September snow is highly unusual, the meteorologist noted, it isn’t unprecedented. On Sept. 23, 1926, he said, 1 inch of snow fell across the area. Typically, late October or early November is the more likely time for frozen H2O to encroach on local denizens.

But if it does snow this weekend, is that tangible evidence that predictions for a heavy-snowfall winter are probably on target?

Mann chuckled.

“Not sure if this storm would be a prelude to the upcoming winter,” he said, “but it sure does make for interesting conversation.”