What is the best time of year to visit your town/city?

[webny99]

Fall is the best time to come to this part of the country. If I had to pick a month, October would be it, followed by September.
November is too late, as most of the foliage is gone, it's often gray for weeks at a time (if not the entire month), and there's usually a snowfall or two before Thanksgiving.

March is the absolute worst. Gray, wet, basically zero signs of spring, freak snowstorms, dirty snowpiles. Blech.

[kphoger]

For Wichita, it all depends on what weather you like.  Hot summers, cold winters, wet autumns, variable springs.

But for the region in general, I enjoy traveling right around this time of year, as you get to see a lot of the corn harvest.  With basically no rain recently, the harvest has been in full swing this year.  I stopped in at the grain elevators in Fowler on my way back from Colorado on Friday (it's not worth explaining why), and the scales worker told me they've been working non-stop since Day 1 of the harvest.  The roads right now are full of grain trucks, the fields are in various stages of harvest, and roadside activity bustles.

[thspfc]

Most would say summer because of the lakes. Personally I would say fall. If you're going to go to Wisconsin for the lakes, you're not going to Madison. The big lakes here are too busy and too gross.

[kphoger]

Yeah, for nearby Chicago, I recommend October–as long as it isn't too rainy.

[MikieTimT]

Fayetteville is best enjoyed Sept./Oct. with all of the festivals, football, and fall colors.  That's also when all the bikers descend on us, likely for the same reasons.

[1995hoo]

The snarky answer is, "whenever Congress is not in session because there's usually somewhat less traffic."

Otherwise, I would say late April to early May is usually very nice, as is the period around Columbus Day. As someone who suffers from pollen allergies, I'd say the fall period is somewhat better because the pollen in springtime can be severe.

[Max Rockatansky]

Early Spring for Fresno.  The weather is mild up but all the falls, creeks, and rivers in the nearby National Parks are at full flow.  There usually is a substantial flower bloom at low elevations through much of April. 

[kphoger]

Early Spring for Fresno.  The weather is mild up but all the falls, creeks, and rivers in the nearby National Parks are at full flow.  There usually is a substantial flower bloom at low elevations through much of April. 

The locals in Grand Junction (CO) all recommended visiting Arches NP in March.  That sounds great and all, but the average low temperature in Moab is still 30 degrees in March, so I'm not sure camping would be such a good idea for us.  Any suggestions in that part of the country?

[NWI_Irish96]

To expand from town/city a bit:

Late August through late September gets you the best combination of air and water temperature for enjoying Lake Michigan, and then right after that is the peak time for enjoying the Fall colors and of course fall Saturdays in South Bend (except this year of course).

[Max Rockatansky]

Early Spring for Fresno.  The weather is mild up but all the falls, creeks, and rivers in the nearby National Parks are at full flow.  There usually is a substantial flower bloom at low elevations through much of April. 

The locals in Grand Junction (CO) all recommended visiting Arches NP in March.  That sounds great and all, but the average low temperature in Moab is still 30 degrees in March, so I'm not sure camping would be such a good idea for us.  Any suggestions in that part of the country?

I would say not so much for camping out there that time of the year.  Not only can it be cold but sometimes it's absolutely caked in snow (like it was when I was there in 2013).  I would probably suggest something more southerly if you want to camp like Big Bend or Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. 

[kphoger]

Early Spring for Fresno.  The weather is mild up but all the falls, creeks, and rivers in the nearby National Parks are at full flow.  There usually is a substantial flower bloom at low elevations through much of April. 

The locals in Grand Junction (CO) all recommended visiting Arches NP in March.  That sounds great and all, but the average low temperature in Moab is still 30 degrees in March, so I'm not sure camping would be such a good idea for us.  Any suggestions in that part of the country?

I would say not so much for camping out there that time of the year.  Not only can it be cold but sometimes it's absolutely caked in snow (like it was when I was there in 2013).  I would probably suggest something more southerly if you want to camp like Big Bend or Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. 

Ah, you misunderstood what I was asking.  Not where is good to go camping in March, but rather what time of year to visit the Arches area.

(I've camped a few times in Big Bend in March, and I agree that it's a great time of year to go there.  Guadalupe Mountains is on my bucket list for camping, but I forget what months I identified as the best for camping.)

[Max Rockatansky]

Early Spring for Fresno.  The weather is mild up but all the falls, creeks, and rivers in the nearby National Parks are at full flow.  There usually is a substantial flower bloom at low elevations through much of April. 

The locals in Grand Junction (CO) all recommended visiting Arches NP in March.  That sounds great and all, but the average low temperature in Moab is still 30 degrees in March, so I'm not sure camping would be such a good idea for us.  Any suggestions in that part of the country?

I would say not so much for camping out there that time of the year.  Not only can it be cold but sometimes it's absolutely caked in snow (like it was when I was there in 2013).  I would probably suggest something more southerly if you want to camp like Big Bend or Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. 

Ah, you misunderstood what I was asking.  Not where is good to go camping in March, but rather what time of year to visit the Arches area.

(I've camped a few times in Big Bend in March, and I agree that it's a great time of year to go there.  Guadalupe Mountains is on my bucket list for camping, but I forget what months I identified as the best for camping.)

Ah I see, probably October (especially after the Columbus Day crowd has cleared) through early November.  The weather can still get kind of hot in those months but doesn't quite reach unbearably cold overnight until December. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I would say between Labor Day and Columbus Day for Minnesota. It's still warm and pleasant but the summer humidity and mosquitoes have mostly blown away, and late in that period the trees change in the northern half of the state.

[J N Winkler]

For Wichita, it all depends on what weather you like.  Hot summers, cold winters, wet autumns, variable springs.

We do have a nice blossom season in spring, but fall (once the temperatures cool enough that the A/C never cycles on but not to the extent that heating is needed) is probably the most consistently pleasant.  Craig Miner (locally famous Kansas historian) once remarked that our summers veered from Amazonian to Saharan, while winters went from Italian to Siberian.

[Bruce]

Summer to early fall is ideal for the wet side of Washington. And our summer doesn't officially begin until July 5, and there's usually tons of events (Seafair, Bumbershoot) during the first month.

Though if you do want the mountains in their full snow-capped glory, then early spring will have a few sunny days to bring out the killer views.

[MikieTimT]

Summer to early fall is ideal for the wet side of Washington. And our summer doesn't officially begin until July 5, and there's usually tons of events (Seafair, Bumbershoot) during the first month.

Though if you do want the mountains in their full snow-capped glory, then early spring will have a few sunny days to bring out the killer views.

I'll be visiting your town tomorrow.  Hopping a cheap flight ($206) from XNA to SEA in the morning to get there mid afternoon to meet up with my brother to do a long-discussed road trip back to Arkansas with his old 4-Runner.  Going to catch Yellowstone, Cody, Denver, Colorado Springs, and pass back through Raton on the way back to Arkansas on I-40.

[Sctvhound]

In Charleston, SC: About right now (early October) to Thanksgiving every year. Weather usually very nice, 70s and low 80s in most of October, then 60s and high 50s in November.

Tropical threats pretty much are done about this time every year, warm, seasonable days and cooler nights. Perfect weather to go outside, attend a football game, and road trip to the close-by beach or to the mountains.

After that I'd say mid-March to mid-April is second best with weather.

[The Nature Boy]

The snarky answer is, "whenever Congress is not in session because there's usually somewhat less traffic."

Otherwise, I would say late April to early May is usually very nice, as is the period around Columbus Day. As someone who suffers from pollen allergies, I'd say the fall period is somewhat better because the pollen in springtime can be severe.

I would advise visiting the area in the winter because that's when the tourists are gone and you can enjoy things like the monuments and museums in relative solitude.

But that defeats the purpose of the question so everyone reading this thread please disregard.

[Flint1979]

Probably the summer. There's a lot going on usually in the summer time around here. Winter's are usually long and cold and boring.

[kkt]

Mid-July to mid-September used to be the best advice.  The summers are mild, it's often sunny and rarely hot or humid.  However, the last few years we're getting forest fire smoke almost every summer, and it's not very predictable.

[CoreySamson]

As for my home county, Brazoria County, I think the best time would probably be early spring. The county has 2 main unique selling points: 1, the beach, and 2, the bird-watching opportunities (Brazoria County, as I've mentioned in other threads, is home to more bird species at different times of the year than any other US county).

Early spring is great because around then migratory birds wintering in Mexico fly up the coast and make stops in the county. Whether you like roseate spoonbills, mockingbirds, or eagles, Brazoria County has them all that time of year. Also, the beach isn't very crowded around that time, plus the weather is usually decent, with highs ranging from the mid 60s to the 80s. Also the alligators are out that time of year, so if you want to see wild gators, spring isn't a bad time.

If we were talking about weather only, then November/December would be the way to go. It gets pretty cool and crisp, but not too cold most of the time.

Don't come in the summer; you have the triple trifecta of heat, mosquitoes, and hurricanes to deal with (and trust me, none of those are fun!).

[allniter89]

Mid Oct to mid April. The oppresive heat &humidity are gone & the gulf is still warm enough to swim in Oct-Nov plus the tourist are gone.

[Desert Man]

From Halloween (Oct 31) to May Day (May 1) is the tourist and snowbird season for the Palm Springs area/Coachella Valley. Mild and snowless winters are the climatic norm here, unless you take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway 8 miles or 6,600 feet up the mountain (the valley base at 2,000 feet to the top base at 8,600 feet above sea level) if you want to play in the snow after an occasional (some years) heavy rain storm. 90F highs in Oct. and May can be hot for many visitors from other states, but we have usually low-level (i.e. 10%) humidity heat.

[I-55]

The best time to visit Fort Wayne is during the weekend of the Johnny Appleseed Festival. Plenty of things to do, good food to eat, fair weather and a lot of fun to be had. On the traffic side of things, if you visit during spring break weekend and live south of town, traffic shouldn't be too big of a problem as everyone here migrates south like a flock of geese for break.

[Roadgeekteen]

Fall, the leaves are beautiful and unique to New England and the surrounding area.