Погода: Шарлотт, ноябрь

If you're timing a November trip for autumn colour, Charlotte runs late and thin. Peak here is "early to mid November, as compared to mid October in, say, Blowing Rock, only 90 minutes away" — a month's difference over a short drive, because the mountains turn first. Within the city, one local is unsentimental: "Charlotte is a big urban city. Not a great place for trees," with the best of it in older neighbourhoods like Eastover and Myers Park. For real colour they point outward — Crowders Mountain State Park near Gastonia, Morrow Mountain in the Uwharries, or Asheville and Blowing Rock proper. Our record has November at 16.6°C days, 6.5°C nights and 7 rain days, which is a comfortable month for the driving those suggestions imply.

Regulars describe genuinely mixed conditions - mild, 60s-Fahrenheit days with chilly nights most likely, but they're specific that this city sees some of its worst snow and ice storms in March, real enough that a backup plan for delayed travel is worth having. Our row backs that swing, 19C over 6C nights feeling 3C, with 99.1mm of rain across 9.3 days and a real trace of snow, 1cm. Regulars mention a St. Patrick's festival landing in the same window where people often go out in shorts regardless of the actual temperature, a good example of how a single day's weather here can run either way. The record: humidity 66 percent, 8.2 hours of sun, a 16.9 kph wind and AQI 45.

Regulars split this month at its own final week: the first two weeks run just as hot and sticky as August, while the last week is when temperature and humidity finally ease off. Our row is that whole span averaged, 29C reading as 31C at 71.8 percent humidity, over 17.6C nights, with 128.4mm of rain across only 6.6 days - concentrated rather than spread thin. Hurricane season technically runs through November and is at its statistical peak now, but this inland city rarely sees more than rain and a little wind by the time a storm has travelled this far from the coast; the board's own line is that it is a risk worth knowing about rather than one likely to ruin a trip. The record: 9.5 hours of sun, a 12.4 kph wind and AQI 51.

Locals put the arrival of spring here in late March or April and call the result mild and pleasant, with one caveat: a snowstorm at that join is possible but the odds are slim, and accumulation of an inch happens perhaps once every two or three years. Our 0.3cm for the month is that odds calculation written as an average. The humidity newcomers complain about is a summer problem, not this one - 65 percent now. What April does bring is pollen, heavily enough that regulars tell allergy sufferers to pack their medication. Our row gives 23.3C days over 9.5C nights, a near fourteen-degree gap that makes mornings cool, with 109.3mm across 7.4 days. The record: 10 hours of sun, a 16.8 kph wind and AQI 44.

October in Charlotte is pleasantly cool with the odd shower and plenty of good days - our row gives a 24.4C average high over a 10.9C night - but if you have come for the colour, regulars will redirect you. Charlotte's own leaves do not peak until early to mid-November, and the best of the city's show is in the older neighbourhoods, Eastover and Myers Park. The mountains are the October answer: Boone and Blowing Rock peak around the 15th to the 20th and Asheville is about two hours away, with the warning attached that accommodation through the mountains books out completely for October and the first week of November, crowds to match. The record: 5.1 precipitation days carrying 82.5mm, humidity 71 percent and 8.3 hours of sun.