Growing up in upstate New York does have some perks. For example the first two weeks of October in the Adirondacks is one of the most scenic places in the country. Plus the apple cider and apple cider donuts are amazing! If you love a beautiful Autumn season, then upstate New York is for you! However, if you don’t like indecisive weather, then maybe you should rethink your choice and only come for a visit.
Let’s start our journey with September and October. In the beginning of September, you can be sure to find everyone in shorts and a T-shirt by day and a sweatshirt and pants by night. As the month progresses the weather slowly gets colder, but it's a little more bearable. That reason being the start of the fall foliage and apple picking season! Everyone starts to close up the camps on the lakes to settle in and prepare for the upcoming holidays. A classic day looks like the typical stereotype you would imagine: Girls in jeans, boots, sweaters, and scarfs (most likely with a coffee in hand), and guys in jeans, boots and a flannel. Apple picking, pumpkin picking, football games, hiking, sightseeing, jumping in piles of leaves, sipping on hot apple cider, hayrides, and the start of the haunted houses are all activities that one looks forward to.
Fall may sound beautiful, and it definitely is for the first two months, but then eventually all the leaves fall and the colder weather begins to set in. One day it’s 65 degrees and the next morning you wake up to six inches of snow. Only for the next day to return to the high 40s/low 50s. So as the weather begins to shift towards the colder temperatures, there are still some things to look forward to, like Stewart’s coffee (even though most drink Stewart’s coffee all year, there’s something about their coffee when it snows that makes everything better). Fall has the stereotype of being only about pretty leaves, football, and apple picking, but we sometimes forget that fall lasts until December 21st.
The entire month of November is the transition into Holiday mode. Even though November is a whole lot colder than October and September, there’s so much to look forward to, like Thanksgiving (the best holiday there is), and decorating for Christmas! No to mention the transition from raking and jumping in piles of leaves to shoveling snow and building snowmen. Let's also not forget about the iceskating, sleigh riding and the days to just stay in, drink hot cocoa, and watch movies. These activities, although mainly associated with winter, are also very much part of the fall in upstate New York, where it starts snowing in late October.
Fall in upstate New York is not finite for sure, however. There will be days of warmth and days where you won't leave the house into the cold. But all together, I think we can all agree it is definitely the best season from the fall foliage to the first snow of the season!
Fall in upstate New York to me marks the end of the hot summer and the beginning of the cold winter ahead with a few bipolar weather days in-between.
