Normally this time of year Ray Brown cuts back on his workload and prepares to enjoy some winter relaxation.

Not this year. Warmer than usual temperatures are giving Brown, owner of Quality Lawn Care in Lawrence, plenty to do.

“It’s going to be Thanksgiving here before long and the grass is still growing,” Brown said Tuesday afternoon as the temperature climbed near 80 degrees. “It’s extended our season.”

An unusual weather pattern has caused Lawrence and the rest of Kansas to experience a warmer and drier November start. It’s all because west winds have dominated the atmosphere, especially during the first part of this week, said Mary Knapp, a Kansas climatologist.

“It happens, but more commonly we see it in the winter when it is known as Chinook winds,” Knapp said.

In Kansas, southern winds bringing in moist tropical air are more common than western winds, Knapp said. Both southern and western winds bring warm air, but the west winds are drier, she said.

Sierra Hawley, a pre-schooler at Century School, tosses a handful of leaves as she and her classmates enjoy the warm weather Tuesday in Watson Park.

Chinook winds occur when you have air masses coming over the Colorado Rockies, down into western Kansas and then into eastern Kansas, which is at a lower elevation, Knapp said. Eastern Kansas is at a lower elevation and there is a compression of air. Moreover, the air masses are drier because the moisture is already condensed out as they pass over the mountains, she said.

The movement of air masses, commonly called the “jet stream,” also has been out of kilter for this time of year. The jet stream has set up farther to the north.

“It’s just one of those unusual weather patterns that happens every once in a while,” Knapp said.

That is expected to change in a few days.

“As we move to the middle of the month, it should move back to normal patterns where there is more of a kink in the jet stream,” Knapp said. “Also it looks like the second half of the month will be wetter than it has been.”

Over the past 30 years, the average daily high temperature for Lawrence in November is 54 degrees, according to state statistics. The average low is 36 degrees.

As for the winter weather outlook, forecasters are expecting warmer than normal temperatures. The precipitation outlook is unclear. So far there has been no rain in November, 6News meteorologist Matt Sayers said.

Brown is ready for a return to more normal November weather.

“When you are in the lawn business, you just hit it hard all summer long and you welcome a change to sit back and take it easy a little bit,” he said. “The stress level goes way down.”