Westchester Weatherman Joe Rao Defines the Term “Indian Summer”

“It’s the first spell of unseasonably mild weather coming after the first widespread frost of the fall season,” Rao says. So, contrary to popular perception, Indian Summer is not just warmer-than-usual weather in September or October—it can come as late as November in the tri-state area. Regarding the origins of the not-so-politically-correct term, the first documented use, according to some, is in a 1778 tome by J. H. St. John de Crèvecœur called Letters From an American Farmer. Rao is not so sure about that. “There is no record of the origin of the term,” he says, but, according to the late painter Eric Sloane, who, says Rao, was well versed in weather lore, “old almanacs from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries spoke frequently of ‘Red Man’s Summer,’ and the ‘Indian fire fogs of late autumn.’ Perhaps the early settlers sometimes mistook the haze of late New England autumn air for the campfires of Indians.”

Politically incorrect though it may be, “Native American Summer” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Our Best of Business event is October 30!

Our CEOs & Business Leaders Golf Outing is August 5!

Our Best of Westchester Party is July 24!

Our Westchester Home Design Awards event is June 26!

Our Wine & Food Festival returns June 4-9!

Our Wunderkinds event takes place on May 23!

Our Best of Business Ballot is open through May 15!

Our Healthcare Heroes Awards event takes place on May 9!

Our Westchester Home Builders Awards take place on April 4!

Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Forum is March 14!

Unveiled: A Boutique Bridal Brunch is February 25!

Holiday flash sale ... subscribe and save 50%

Limited time offer. New subscribers only.