Weather In-Depth: Killing frost means no more mowing of the lawn

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — This is the time of the year when you get up early in the morning and look outside and you may see a white sheen that is covering the grass.

That is frost and if you are one of those folks who is really tired of mowing the lawn, this is probably good news. It means that the growing season has effectively come to an end across a good portion of Western New York.

The average date for the first frost does vary significantly from location to location. The average date is usually early to mid-September for the deeper valleys in the Southern Tier. But if you are closer to Rochester, that date is closer to the middle or even the end of October.

So we know that the first frost has actually arrived a little early this year. Part of the reason for this is Western New York has had a couple of nights of clear skies. As a result, the clear skies will allow the heat to escape into the atmosphere and the temperature is going to drop more quickly than if there were cloud cover.

This colder weather is verified when you look at the low temperature at the Rochester Airport. The National Weather Service temperature measurements show that Sunday night into Monday morning reached a low of 33 degrees. And the forecast shows that again tonight there is a good opportunity for a killing frost, at least for communities away from Lake Ontario and the City of Rochester.

So there is the positive side that you may not have to mow the lawn again. But on the negative side, it will soon be time to rake the leaves.