Why We Love Fall

Giant pumpkins. Cozy flannels. Hot apple cider. Leaves crunching underfoot in the cool, crisp mornings. Corn mazes. The pleasure of making a passed-down soup recipe once again. Geese overhead, honking as they fly south. Harvest. Sweater weather.

Fall is here, and for many of us, the season brings with it a whole new way of experiencing the world we inhabit. As our planet tilts and our hemisphere moves away from the sun, the light we depend on for so much lengthens, deepening our shadows as the days shorten, the world around us sleeping in a bit longer each night.

Poet John Keats called autumn a “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,” while a different kind of poet, Winnie The Pooh, put a more energetic spin on the season, exclaiming “It's the first day of autumn! A time for hot chocolatey mornings, and toasting marshmallow evenings, as best of all, leaping into *leaves*!” Both quotes, however, evoke something of the magic of this time of crisp, cool sweetness.

The changing of the season is also a reminder that, though those of us in New Mexico (who thrill to the perfume of green chilis roasting in the air) experience fall differently than those in New England (where apple cider doughnuts and roadside pumpkins are a way of life), we’re all here on this Earth of ours together, spinning elliptically around our distant star.

To help you swing into the mood of the season, our editorial team has assembled the following array of fall-forward videos and articles. Enjoy, and from all of us to you: HAPPY FALL!

🍁 Slower cooling from summer warmth is expected this season. Learn more with our fall temperature outlook.

🍜 Fall is a time of changing foods (and drinks). Here’s what our meteorologists are looking forward to.

😎 This fall will feature a pretty epic “Ring Of Fire” solar eclipse. Find out everything you need to know about where to see it.

⚖️ Fall begins with the autumn equinox, but what does that really mean? Here are four things to know about it.

🚂 Wondering where to go this season? Check out these 7 destinations fall travelers need to visit.

🌪️ Tornadoes and severe storms aren’t just a spring/summer phenomenon, they happen in fall and winter too. Here's why.

🤧 Seasonal allergies heat up from late summer to late fall for millions of Americans. Let’s separate fact from fiction.

🌦️ According to meteorologist Chris Dolce, fall is “a season where the atmosphere battles it out between summer's leftovers and Old Man Winter.” Here are some weather changes you can expect as a result.

🍂 Have you heard the expression “leave the leaves?” Here’s why some homeowners leave them on the ground.

📚 Ready to curl up with a cozy autumn book? Our staff has fall reading recs.

Weather.com senior writer and editor Chris DeWeese writes and edits Morning Brief, The Weather Channel's weekday newsletter. Sign up here.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.