JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Weather is always an important factor around holidays and this includes thanksgiving. But you may be curious what was the weather like at the first Thanksgiving. It was in Massachusetts and in late November right?
So, it must have been cold...
Reality is the original thanksgiving in 1621 likely was in September or early October. You have to remember this time of year most crops are already harvested and as we seen recently in upstate New York the snow is already falling. So it wouldn’t make sense in a pre-industrial society to have it in late November.
In fact it was not until 1863 when President Lincoln said it should be the last Thursday of November.
So what was the weather like in 1621 in Massachusetts in October, there are some historical clues. According to the Old Farmers Almanac there is not a lot of information on the weather at the First Thanksgiving. Which is a good thing, since nothing notable was wrote down one can assume the weather was a fair October day in New England, which would be a high in the 60s with passing clouds.
Typically here in Florida, our weather on Thanksgiving is much warmer. But fun fact: in 1970, a blast of cold air moved across Northeast Florida, dropping our temperatures down into the 20s in Jacksonville. The hottest Thanksgiving in Jacksonville on record was in 2014, when the temperature reached 86 degrees.