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I prefer early snowfalls and freezes in fall. It got up to 25°C here a few days ago and though it didn't really count as an Indian summer yet, it felt wrong already. Sunlight is low and yellow, trees are getting red and leaves are dropping, heat just isn't fitting anymore.
In my experience the last week in October seems to be the cut-off date when high temperatures come with clear skies or overcast ones (wind is present in both). 18-20C in late October with sunshine feels pleasant, 16-18C in mid-November with overcast skies and gloom just feels weird - you wake up in the morning and it 'looks like' coat weather and then you just end up carrying it - if it's going to be dark and gloomy anyway it may as well be cold IMO.
Traditional autumnal weather by a long shot. Indian Summer's last shot of hot air, especially of the sort found in places like the Mid-Atlantic, is like a shot in the head to someone like me. For the time when I'd like autumn weather to prevail, late August to late October works just fine (for the time when it's in transition from summer weather to winter weather). Traditional autumn weather would peak in late September and early October.
The combination of these six types of weather constitutes what I think of as traditional "high autumn" weather:
1. Light cold rain in the 30's, 40's, and 50's.
2. Occasional heavier rainstorms with the same temperatures.
3. Frequent breezy and windy weather.
4. Sunny and cool days combined with frosty nights (20-35F) in between storms.
5. The occasional warm, sunny day with temperatures in the 60's ahead of a cold front.
6. A few instances of snow and sleet. It needs to be wet or slushy in nature, never any more than 3 inches in depth, and melt by the next day.
In my ideal autumn, temperatures would thus vary from 20F to 69F, with a few 70F readings as late summer transitions to early autumn, and a few sub-20F nights occurring as late autumn transitions to early winter.
I wouldn't have any 70's after Labor Day, and I wouldn't have any 10's before Columbus Day. That period (Labor Day to Columbus Day) would constitute the core of my ideal autumn
Traditional autumnal weather by a long shot. Indian Summer's last shot of hot air, especially of the sort found in places like the Mid-Atlantic, is like a shot in the head to someone like me. For the time when I'd like autumn weather to prevail, late August to late October works just fine (for the time when it's in transition from summer weather to winter weather). Traditional autumn weather would peak in late September and early October.
The combination of these six types of weather constitutes what I think of as traditional "high autumn" weather:
1. Light cold rain in the 30's, 40's, and 50's.
2. Occasional heavier rainstorms with the same temperatures.
3. Frequent breezy and windy weather.
4. Sunny and cool days combined with frosty nights (20-35F) in between storms.
5. The occasional warm, sunny day with temperatures in the 60's ahead of a cold front.
6. A few instances of snow and sleet. It needs to be wet or slushy in nature, never any more than 3 inches in depth, and melt by the next day.
In my ideal autumn, temperatures would thus vary from 20F to 69F, with a few 70F readings as late summer transitions to early autumn, and a few sub-20F nights occurring as late autumn transitions to early winter.
I wouldn't have any 70's after Labor Day, and I wouldn't have any 10's before Columbus Day. That period (Labor Day to Columbus Day) would constitute the core of my ideal autumn
I do enjoy the early season nor'easters we can get here. October 2009 comes to mind when we got the earliest snowfall on record (October 15th). Windy with a mix of rain and snow...accumulating snow in higher elevations. Not sure if flakes flew in NYC, but I know it was a chilly day there with a high of only 44 F or so. October through March can bring such conditions, even April and May some years.
This month in my dream climate ("St. Edward's"), it's been in the 70s much of the month, but next week is going to see a fairly dramatic flip to highs only in the 40s some days. I guess I fail the Labor Day and Columbus Day criteria you set.
70 F (21 C) is a normal late-autumn afternoon here.
Especially coming out of summer, 70 F would feel like that "chilly autumn day."
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