Have We Had ‘Indian Summer’ In Central New York?
Can you believe the warm weather these last few days? Having temperatures in the mid and upper 70s in the middle of October in central New York is a bonus. But is it officially 'Indian Summer'?
Here is what makes an "Indian Summer", according to "The Old Farmer's Almanac 2015":
"Here are criteria for an Indian summer:
As well as being warm, the atmosphere during Indian summer is hazy or smoky, there is no wind, the barometer is standing high, and the nights are clear and chilly.
A moving, cool, shallow polar air mass is converting into a deep, warm, stagnant anticyclone (high pressure) system, which has the effect of causing the haze and large swing in temperature between day and night.
The time of occurrence is important: The warm days must follow a spell of cold weather or a good hard frost.
The conditions described above must occur between St. Martin's Day (November 11) and November 20."
So, according to this, a true Indian Summer doesn't occur until mid November, so I guess we've just had some warm weather in October. We'll take it, no matter what they call it.