Fall Weather Arriving And This Time I Mean It

OK, this time it's real. Vermont and New England's never ending summer really is about to end.

Snow on autumn leaves last
October. It won't be cold enough
for snow in Vermont this weekend,
but you'll notice a definite shift to chill

Oh, sure, as advertised, there was a brief foray into seasonable weather last week, in which some of the cold mountain hollows of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire had a bit of frost.'

But the temperature quickly recovered back to mid summer levels, where they've stayed for the past several days. It'll be summery today, too, and kind of like that tomorrow, but then.....

It really is time to find the fleece.  

The timing of this upcoming cool spell is just right. Astronomical autumn starts on the East Coast at 10:21 a.m. tomorrow, and the cold front comes through the next day - Friday.

Unlike last week's cool spell, this one is going to stick around for awhile.

In northern New England, temperatures will hold in the 60s Friday as the cold front moves through. Some towns will stay in the 50s Saturday and Sunday in the cool northwest air flow. The warmer valleys will touch 60 over the weekend.

Also over the weekend, many places are at risk of frost in Vermont and surrounding northern areas.

The warm spots near Lake Champlain will probably avoid the frost, but gardeners in the rest of the region want to pay attention to later forecasts.

The cool weather is going to seem shockingly chilly after such a long stretch of warm weather - basically since May. I don't even know where I left some of my warmer shirts, fleece and flannel. I'd better check the closets pronto.

Still, the temperatures we're going to experience are not at all unusual for this time of year. It always happens. Every year.

It's just that it's been so warm, it'll seem like record cold, when in reality it'll just be average.