‘Remarkable’ Fall Weather Spurs Travel
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As warm temperatures extend into autumn, some New Yorkers interested in stretching their summers as long as possible are making last-minute plans for weekend jaunts out of the city. In what a meteorologist with the National Weather Service described as a “remarkable” weather pattern affecting the mid-Atlantic and southern New England region, temperatures are expected to reach the 80s this weekend and may not cool off until the middle of next week.
With a sunny forecast, the number of last-minute reservations for the Hampton Jitney can shoot up on Friday afternoons, a spokeswoman with the bus company, Jennifer Friebely, said. “I could see my reservations double,” she said.
The temperatures are “a pleasant weather pattern for those who like to hold on to summer weather in October,” the meteorologist, Timothy Morrin said.
September temperatures were above the monthly average of 67.5 degrees by nearly 3 degrees, he said. The warmest September on record was in 1961, with an average 73.5 degrees.
The more popular Jitney routes in fall are along the northeastern coast of Long Island, known for its wineries and farms, Ms. Friebely said. “In North Fork, they’re going through a boom with the harvest,” she said.
“When the weather report looks good, they tend to come in at the last minute,” she added.
One bed-and-breakfast owner, Darolyn Augusta, said her phone hasn’t stopped ringing with guests planning last-minute trips.
“We never used to be busy this time of year,” Ms. Augusta, who owns the Harvest Inn, said. In the four years the inn has been open, this is her busiest season, she said.
“It’s so unseasonably beautiful,” she said. “People are coming out to enjoy to the beach as much as the vineyards.”
The warm fall follows a cooler and wetter summer than most, with average temperatures 1.2 degrees lower and 8.6 more inches of rainfall than average, Mr. Morrin said.
The Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a warmer winter than average, he said.