My Fond Memories of Fall
Sharing my thoughts and beautiful memories of autumn
What is it about the fall season that evokes strong emotions? Fall means different things to different people. For a mom like me who has spent her whole life in a tropical country, fall is a season that has brought fond memories of travel to North America, particularly, Guelph, Ontario, Canada and Los Angeles, California. It is also a season for learning new things that are unique to this side of the world.
It was fall when my mom and I arrived in Canada in 2011, on October 27, 2011 to be exact; and it was still fall when I left the country on December 13 of the same year. This is not my first time to visit Canada but this is my first time to come to this country in fall and for a mom who was born and raised in a tropical country, I was extremely excited about this trip which presented a lot of new things to look forward to and enjoy to the fullest.
Fall fashion
First, the fashion. Just as I was excited to travel to Canada again as this is my first time to do so in fall and on to winter, I was equally excited about the prospect of having to wear fall and winter clothes. We do not get to wear this type of clothing in our country because we are located very near the equator which means it is very hot the whole year through. And for a fashionista like me, I thought that wearing a pair of boots, a fall jacket, a matching scarf, gloves and bonnet will make my fashion ensemble complete! And....make me look good in pictures...haha...which I can show to my friends who are mostly from this tropical country like me!
Here are links to great fashion ideas for fall:
Fall temperature
The US average temperature in fall, not including Hawaii and Alaska, is 53.9 degrees F or 12.2 degrees C. It ranges from a low of 53.9 degrees F and a high of 72.7 degrees F or 22.6 degrees C.
The top 10 hottest states in the US are, in this order: Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona.
The top 10 coldest states are: Alaska, North Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, Vermont, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Idaho and Michigan. (in the same rank).
The top 10 states with the best all-year-round weather are: California, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Delaware, North Carolina and Louisiana.
What I learned about the types of snowflakes
During my visit in 2011, the first snowfall in Guelph happened on November 30, 2011 and the next one occurred the following month on December 6, 2011. On the first snowfall in November, I noticed that most of the snow that hit the ground covered most of the grassy areas in the community but it did not cover much of the concreted areas like the parking lots and sidewalks.
In the next snowfall that December, I closely observed the formation of the snowfall in our neighborhood and I noticed that the snow fell on most of the concreted areas this time, covering much of the parking lots and sidewalks but not much of the grassy areas. I was curious about this scientific phenomenon and I made a research about the subject.
I discovered that snow tends to form faster in areas where there are grasses than in most concreted areas. This was what I observed on the first day that snow fell in Guelph that November 2011 morning. The grassy park where most of the kids play during fine weather and the other areas where grass grow were completely covered with snow but the curbs, the roads and the parking areas did not accumulate any amount of snow that day.
The explanation to this scientific phenomenon is that snow cannot easily form on smooth concrete surfaces like roadways especially when there's a strong wind blowing. The vegetation found in the area will slow down wind speed collecting any amount of snow that comes with the wind.
On the next snowfall in December, it was the roadways, curbs and parking lots that accumulated a lot of snow, but not the grassy areas this time. Now, can you guess why? Yes, the wind was blowing slowly that day and the smooth concrete surfaces had enough time to form a generous amount of snow. When I looked at the grassy park, it was a bit green with specks of white, which means that the place was not completely covered with snow unlike the first time snow fell in our area.
