SYRACUSE -- It’s a sure sign that winter is not far away, the end of the growing season. For some counties in Central New York this came early Sunday morning. The temperature in Syracuse that day dropped to 36°. I personally noticed a light frost on my lawn in Baldwinsville. Elsewhere, readings fell into the upper 20s, allowing for a killing frost or freeze. Old Forge had a low of 28°, 24° in Highmarket, and the cold spot was Saranac Lake at 22°.
The following is a list of Central New York counties that the National Weather Service has declared the growing season to be over: Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Otsego, Schuyler, St. Lawrence, and Tompkins. The map to the right of this story has them filled in with blue. Notice this list does not include Onondaga County and those counties to the southwest, west and northwest.
Why do I think this list of counties is important enough to post a story? Because the National Weather Service will no longer issue frost or freeze watches, warnings or advisories for these areas the rest of this fall. And if you look at the forecast for tonight, you’ll notice that a frost or freeze is going to be a concern. Temperatures are expected to drop into the middle 30s for Syracuse, with lower 30s, even upper 20s, in the coldest rural spots. That would explain why some counties are not under any weather alerts for the cold tonight.
Temperatures below freezing for several hours will kill tender plants, but not all vegetation. The growing season is defined as the period in between the last spring frost and the first frost of fall. In Syracuse it lasts 170 days on average, from April 28th until October 16th. So far this autumn the temperature has been high enough for only some spotty light frost around Syracuse. So we may still be on target for October 16th, or maybe even a longer growing season. You can read more about the growing season and dates for other cities around the nation here.
