THE VERMONT WEATHER BOOK by David Ludlum (Vermont Historical Society, 1996)
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October is the time to expect the first spell of Indian summer, which some people refer to as a “second summer.” By tradition, Indian summer must follow the first frosts of autumn. The latter have been staged by an anticyclone from Canada bringing down cold air on the wings of northwest winds. When the center of the high pressure area has passed to the east, the winds swing around to the southwest and blow gently, introducing a period of mild days with hazy sunshine prevailing — Indian summer.
The sky takes on a hazy appearance around the horizon and smog condition may envelop urban areas. Temperatures rise into the high 50s and low 60s and one feels the urge to be out-of-doors and resume some of summer’s activities. Indian summer is a sort of floating season on the calendar and may occur anytime from mid-October to early December. There may be only one such period in an autumn, or two or three visitations, the sequence varying from year to year.
Mean temperatures decline about 10 degrees in the course of October, although the gradient between north and south remains relatively small: Newport has an October mean of 46.1° and Vernon 49.4°. The absolute extremes over recent years have been from a maximum of 91° at Vernon in 1963 to a low of 5° at Morrisville in 1972. The October range at Burlington can be from 85° to 17°.
Precipitation shows a substantial decline of about eight percent from the September totals, the greatest amount falling in the western section and the least in the southeast. Of a representative group of valley stations, Rutland receives the least amount of rain with 2.70 inches, while Vernon has 3.49 inches. The mountain stations report more than four inches: Searsburg Station 4.35 inches and Peru 4.26 inches.
