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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
When signs of winter typically arrive where you live and how they’re
changing
By CNN Meteorologist Chris Dolce, Matt Stiles, CNN
Updated:
2:12 AM EDT, Wed September 17, 2025
Hand in hand with brilliant foliage, fall delivers the first signs of
winter to much of the United States — but the seasons are changing,
and not as they normally do.
The fall season is heating up as the world warms due to fossil fuel
pollution, and that’s pushing the date of the average first freeze
— when the temperature hits 32 degrees or colder — later in the
year for much of the country. That delay has impacts on everything from
agriculture to allergens, and has also caused fall snow to decline.
The first freeze has shifted an average of 11 days later in since 1970,
according to the nonprofit research group Climate Central, with the
biggest changes seen in the Midwest and Northeast.
When the first freeze arrives depends on a number of factors, including
whether you live up a mountain, in the middle of a city, or close
enough to an ocean or a big lake that takes the edge off the cold.
All these elements usually begin to align in September, bringing the
first freeze to higher elevations of the Northern and Central Rockies,
as well as locations from the Dakotas into the northern Great Lakes and
higher elevations of Northern New England, according to from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The freeze rollout
expands toward the Midwest, Northeast and a larger part of the West in
October, then into the South in November.
Here’s how that’s changing.
Freeze dates pushing later by weeks…
The biggest shift to later freeze dates has unfolded in the northern
tier of the United States over the past few decades.
The first freeze has skewed at least two weeks later than in 1970 in
nearly five dozen cities, mainly in the Upper Midwest and Northeast,
but also parts of the Northwest, Climate Central found. That includes
Detroit, Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St. Paul, just to name a few
cities.
Reno, Nevada, has the biggest change, with its typical first freeze
date now an eye-popping 41 days later.
The first freeze often kills or damages some vegetation, but not
completely if it only stays that cold briefly. Later freeze dates can
cause a longer fall allergy season and mosquitos overstaying their
welcome, among other consequences. Warmer falls can also have a
negative impact on non-citrus fruit and nut production by delaying the
start of the critical for flower and fruit production the following
year.
…and that can also mean less snow
Seeing the first flakes of the season can be an exciting moment, while
others might loathe the thought of early snows being a preview of
winter’s shoveling to come.
Fall snow has decreased in every region of the US from 1970 to 2019,
according to a study.
Expanding that picture to include both winter and spring snow, Climate
Central studied are seeing less snow than in the 1970s. Less snow can
negatively affect water supplies by reducing meltwater from snowpack,
especially in the Mountain West. It can also have an adverse impact on
winter recreation and tourism. Winter has become the for nearly 75% of
the US as global temperatures rise.
When the first measurable snow arrives can be highly variable from
year-to-year across both fall and winter.
The first accumulating snow of the season, defined as 0.1 inch or more
covering the ground, historically hits the Northern and Central Rockies
first in September, though higher reaches of these regions can see snow
any time of year.
October’s first snows typically happen from a larger part of the
Rockies into the Northern Plains, northern Great Lakes and far Northern
New England.
November and December are when most of the Lower 48 sees its first
accumulating snow, including the Midwest, Northeast and valleys of the
Mountain West.
The country will still see snow even as fall and winter seasons warm,
but . A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, but if winter sees
fewer freezing days, that could mean more rain than snow.
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