Matt Kay made sure that he had his windbreaker before he left the house.

It was the first time since the start of summer that the Manteca father of two had any reason to think about changing elements or making sure that he was comfortable when he went on his nightly walk around Woodward Park.

But as the sun dipped down behind the horizon, the temperature also fell – dropping below the T-shirt friendly levels that he’s come to expect for the last six months.

The transition, he said, was a welcome change.

“It got to a point there where it was just a little bit ridiculous,” he said of the Indian Summer heat that scorched Northern California in late September. “It’s nice to finally have that fall weather that means cooler temperatures are on the way. It means the holidays are coming.

“My kids are going to love that.”

The region was peppered with light showers late Wednesday evening that returned by Thursday afternoon. Temperatures hovered in the 60s while overcast skies hinted that summer might just be over for good.

That’s not exactly what Samantha Carlson was hoping to hear as she buzzed around the playground at Northgate Park.

But the rain does bring something to the area that she’s looking forward to seeing with the next month or so – snow.

“My parents always take us to the snow and my Mom told me that time is coming up,” she said. “It’s fun to slide down the hill and make snowballs and everything. That’s what the rain brings, so it’s not all bad.”

But the sun isn’t exactly done warming us up just yet even though there was a dusting of snow in the higher Sierra elevations.

According to Accuweather, temperatures in the area will be in the 80s once again by the beginning of next week and will stay there until there until next Friday with peak highs expected to reach 88 degrees on Wednesday.

Knowing that at least one more week of constant sunshine and warm temperatures is on the horizon is music to the ears of Russ Anderson. He plans on taking his boat out on the Delta one last time before he gets it ready for winter storage.

“It’s that time of year where you try and get out there and get in one last hurrah,” Anderson said. “It’s a pain to cover and uncover it and try and keep the rain from pooling on the cover, so I just garage it for the winter.

“But I’ve got to take it out and burn the gas and get one more good day in. It would be a waste if I didn’t.”