By: Sadie Downing'26
Photo courtesy of USA Today and Climate Prediction Center
Williamsburg is a city of contradictions. It’s older than the country it’s in, surrounding a college older than the name “Williamsburg.” It’s a bustling tourist attraction and a sleepy college town filled with William & Mary students and staff. Williamsburg was the former capital of the country, but now it’s not even the capital of Virginia. However, the biggest contradiction in Williamsburg isn’t necessarily any of the ones mentioned above; in fact, it’s the nature of Williamsburg’s weather.
Here’s a scenario that many William & Mary students can relate to: you wake up in a season that’s ostensibly Fall, which in your head means cool, pleasant weather. Therefore, you put on a sweater and jeans, possibly a jacket. Your outfit works great in the morning, but by midday, you’re miserable. The mild Fall morning has turned into a sweltering summer afternoon, and you’re sweating. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have enough time to return to your dorm or apartment to change clothes, but if you’re not, you’ll just have to suffer.
I experienced this situation multiple times during my first semester at William & Mary. Unfortunately, I lived across campus from my classes, and I didn’t have time between lectures to run back to my dorm and put on a T-shirt. After months of suffering through Williamsburg’s “Fall,” I learned an important lesson: to check the weather every day before getting dressed. Checking the weather app did the trick for a while, but sometimes it was wrong. Occasionally, Williamsburg outsmarted both of us: the day that was supposed to be 75 degrees soared to above 80, or the humidity made it feel like choking on a wet towel when you stepped outside.
Recently, during the week of Halloween, the temperatures shot up to 80 after about a week and a half of pleasant Fall temperatures. I know too many people who brought home most of their summer clothes over fall break and were forced to wear long-sleeve shirts and jeans on these uncommonly hot days. Because I have also made the mistake of leaving my summer clothes hours away, my first recommendation is to leave a couple of days’ worth of summer outfits in your dresser when you go home, just in case temps soar for multiple days in a row. I always keep a lot of T-shirts no matter the season, as it’s crucial to my second recommendation: layers are essential.
The classic William & Mary layered outfit is jeans, a T-shirt, and a hoodie. I recommend a zippered hoodie so you can lay it open if you are too warm for a sweater, but just a T-shirt is too cold. Once it gets a little chillier, you can wear a sweater, but I caution against heavy sweaters in Williamsburg unless it’s freezing outside. I’ve been a student at William & Mary for three years now, and though I wear sweaters occasionally, half the time I have one on, I get too hot after a day of walking around campus. That’s my own experience, however. My most important piece of advice for dressing in Williamsburg is to dress according to your preferences. I run hot, so if it’s going to be cold, I always wear layers I can take off, but if you run cold, you might want to wear sweaters more often. Just be aware that Williamsburg’s weather can swing day to day– so always be prepared and check the weather before you set out in the morning!
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