Big Weather Changes You Can Expect in October

It's hard to believe October is just around the corner.

But here we are, and much like the return of pumpkin spice in everything, the weather also has its cyclical changes that you can expect this upcoming month.

When I think of October, I think of those drastic changes in temperatures throughout the day. You know, when I leave the house bundled up, but by lunchtime, I am carrying around my jacket, wishing I were in short sleeves and shorts.

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But October weather means different things for each region.

Some people think of an increased threat of wildfires, while others think of hurricanes. Your October could also be defined by a first freeze or a first significant snowfall.

We will be breaking it down below with six typical changes we see during the first full month of fall.

1. Florida Should Keep Their Eyes On the Atlantic

Despite a rather lackluster 2025 hurricane season in the Atlantic, with a new month comes new tropical trends.

I am looking at you, Florida.

From 1851 through 2024, Florida has seen 34 hurricanes make landfall in October.

That number nearly triples Louisiana’s second-place total of 12 landfalling hurricanes.

Of these Florida hurricanes, a surprising number have impacted South Florida specifically. The total number of October hurricanes to pass within 70 miles of Miami is a whopping 19, with three hurricanes passing directly through downtown.

Notable recent October hurricanes were Hurricane Milton last year and Hurricane Michael in 2018, both of which caused significant damage to the state.

2. Fall Foliage Peaks

As someone who hates winter, I love fall colors, but it is a little bittersweet as I know what season comes next.

With cool nights beginning to become a more common occurrence through the month of October, millions of Americans will begin to see beautiful oranges, yellows and reds on the trees.

By early October, the Rockies and northern parts of Minnesota, Michigan and New England, as well as upstate New York, will be the places to see peak colors.

As the month progresses, peak fall colors move south through the Midwest to the Appalachians, also sweeping over much of the Northeast and the West.

(MORE: Fall Foliage 2025: When The Colorful Display Peaks In The United States)

3. First Freezes Can Be Underway

Since I prefer summer, this one always makes me shiver.

More regions of the country can begin to see their first freezes as the month of October progresses.

By Oct. 1, the first fall freezes begin to spread further into the Pacific Northwest and south to parts of the interior Northeast, Midwest, Central Plains and the High Plains of the Rockies.

By the end of the month, first freezes cloud spread as far south as the Texas Panhandle, northern Oklahoma and Arkansas and parts of the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.

(MORE: First Freeze)

4. First Snowfalls Are Possible

Ok, this is the silver lining to winter, in my opinion. As much as I hate being cold, I will gladly lose a snowball fight to any of you.

With that cold air I just mentioned, snowfall previously only expected to stick at the highest peaks of the Rockies and Alaska in September expands to much of the Northern Plains, northern Great Lakes and northern New England.

5. October Storms Can Bring Wild Weather

With the clashing of air masses across the country, storms moving through the country can bring a ton of different impacts.

Low-pressure systems can bring rounds of heavy snowfall, including blizzards, to the northern ends of the storm, where cooler air is usually more prevalent.

But across the southern ends of storms, summer can sometimes be stubborn to give up ground. Severe weather, including tornadoes, is possible.

This can lead to damage to homes and power lines generated from all types of weather simultaneously.

In terms of tornadoes, a notable storm was an Oct. 20-21 outbreak across six southern states in 2019.

This outbreak brought an EF3 on the north side of Dallas, but tornadoes are not only possible across the South in the fall.

There was also the “Octobomb” storm in late October 2010 that brought 57 tornado reports and over 300 high wind reports primarily across the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys.

A notable heavy snowstorm was the 2013 Winter Storm Atlas, which brought heavy snowfall and gusty winds to parts of the Northern Plains and Rockies.

An incredible snowfall total of 58 inches or nearly 5 feet was reported in Lawrence County, South Dakota.

Also, a very powerful and rather unique storm was Superstorm Sandy in October 2012, which brought up to three feet of snowfall across the Appalachians stretching from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

Over 50 locations saw at least a foot of snowfall between Oct. 28-31, 2012.

6. Santa Ana Winds Ramp Up

For our California audience, you know it all too well. The Santa Ana winds are legendary for enhancing some of the most destructive wildfires across Southern California.

A rather straightforward setup: all you need is high pressure to build in the Great Basin.

The pressure gradient from the high pressure to the lower pressure near and off the West Coast causes winds to flow toward the coast, squeezing into the narrow corridors across the mountain passes and canyons of the Southern California mountain ranges.

Coming off the dry season in California, anything from sparks from electrical wires and human activity can turn quick spot fires into deadly, raging wildfires that can destroy homes and take lives.

Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degree from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.