Boston isn’t the same as the Midwest. They get colder later because of the gulf stream and because most polar blasts come down from Canada from NW to SE.
I’ve seen snow in Ohio in October. Heck, two of the 1997 World Series games in 1997 were played in snow fall, in October.
I went to Grand Forks ND for Thanksgiving in 1985, roughly 4 hours NW of Minneapolis. 30 degrees below zero blizzard the entire T-Day weekend with a foot of snow.
Purdue, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Iowa etc., can all experience arctic conditions in November. Not every year, but can.