Sep 8 — Laying on the beach. Ice cream after school. Halloween stores open on a 90-degree day. What season is it anyway?
Most of September falls in the period between the meteorological and astronomical changes of the season. Although meteorologists consider September to be the beginning of fall, the autumnal equinox — another sign of the beginning of the season — falls on September 22.
That means there will be about three weeks of confusion, especially as temperatures fluctuate, causing two people on the same beach to give equally different answers to the question, “What season are we in?”
As a cool breeze blew across Wells Beach Wednesday evening, 59-year-old Debra Abel — clad in a windbreaker and long pants — said New England is “definitely” entering fall.
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“The light changes significantly, so for me that’s always a sign that there’s a change in the season,” Abel said.
But a few metres away, other beachgoers dipped their toes in the water and enjoyed the setting sun.
Shayna Sherwood, 38, who was visiting from Vermont, held a shell to her ear and said the fall was still a month away.
“(Fall is) later in October,” Sherwood argued. “The countdown to Halloween.”
Michael Clair, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, says Greater Portland will likely experience weeks of warm days and cold nights before the fall weather really sets in.
“Temperatures will generally be above normal on average and drier than normal,” Clair said. “Apart from the humidity, it will feel like summer for at least a couple of weeks.”
Meanwhile, “normal” temperatures for this time of year have been changing, with the 30-year average for September in Portland increasing by about 1.5 degrees per decade, from 135 degrees for 1971-2000 to 140 degrees for 1991-2020, according to weather service data. And of the 10 warmest Septembers on record (going back to 1940), seven have occurred in the past 10 years.
Clair added that it’s unlikely the trees will change in the coming weeks and that much of southern Maine is still more than a month away from peak tree season.
“Once we get some of these cool nights, the trees get a boost,” Clair said.
Clair personally said that while he started his Wednesday morning with a summer swim near Old Orchard Beach, he was now wearing the jeans he normally only wears in the fall.
Warm enough for ice cream
David Arnold, of South Portland, sat outside Red’s Dairy Freeze with his 3-year-old son Freddy, soaking up the sunshine around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Decked out in sunglasses and short-sleeved shirts, Arnold said fall seemed weeks away.
“Our daycare is closed today, so I can’t work, which is a typical summer thing,” Arnold said. “It just feels like summer today — a good day for ice cream.”
He asked Freddy if the weather was good for ice cream. The boy smiled broadly, clapped his hands and cheered.
Families and children with backpacks milled around the couple, discussing the first days of school. While some wore flannel shirts, most stuck to light T-shirts.
But across town, at the Broadway Gardens greenhouse, crates of pumpkins and stacked hay bales filled the parking lot. Manager Jody DeKubber said fall produce arrived earlier in the week and was already starting to sell.
“You know it starts when the pumpkins come out,” DeKubber said. “And it’s earlier and earlier every year.”
He said the greenhouse experiences an annual influx of buyers looking for late-season perennials, another way he marks the end of summer.
“People feel a sense of urgency,” he said. “It’s the final push.”
As Cape Elizabeth resident Deborah Sprague walked out of the greenhouse Wednesday afternoon, she said it still felt like summer to her, “even with the pumpkins.” But she also said fall was just around the corner.
“To be honest, I put a fall wreath on my door today,” she said, laughing. “I’m getting ready for fall, let’s put it that way.”
Sprague said she was preparing for a weekend luncheon for a few dozen guests. Whether they would eat outside or inside would depend on how summery the atmosphere would be by then.
THE LAST SUMMER CROPS
Anna Spiller, owner of Spiller Farm in Wells, says she’s gotten used to the fluctuating temperatures in recent weeks.
“One day it’s summer, the next day it’s fall,” Spiller said from behind the farm stand. “We could get a frost any time, or not until October.”
Behind her, a herd of about a dozen brown and white Hereford cows bellowed for attention. Most had already grown their thick winter coats, bracing for a change in season, Spiller said.
Spiller said the farm opened for apple picking around Aug. 15, about a week earlier than planned, and that while crowds have been steadily increasing, most people wait until the temperatures drop before even thinking about visiting an apple orchard.
Jeanette Sanford, 38, stopped by the farm to pick up a bag of produce as part of a community-supported agriculture program. She said the mornings and nights have been feeling cold enough for fall lately, even if the days don’t agree.
“This is a strange in-between period. It needs a new name,” Sanford said, though she had no suggestions.
She looked into the paper bag filled with peaches and sweet corn. “I guess it’s still summer,” she said.
Sanford said she was looking forward to picking pumpkins and preparing for Halloween, but she planned to hold on to summer as long as possible.
“As a Mainer, you never want to give up summer,” Sanford said. “It’s so precious.”
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