Brisk fall weather arrived with the autumn equinox on September 22. Maybe you have already stored the cushions for the outdoor furniture and covered the grill.

Perhaps you wore a sweatshirt for this morning’s dog walk. These seasonal changes send a helpful signal that we are headed toward winter.

Listen to these early signals. If you start now, you’ll have plenty of time to do some basic home preparedness for the new season before the first snow arrives. Be mindful that your house or apartment is your most fundamental and versatile preparedness tool because your home will help you stay dry, warm, and fed.

Your fall preparedness checklist

We’ve compiled a checklist to help you get your place ready. These seasonal tasks will help you ensure your home continues to keep you safe even during big storms. From falling trees to overflowing gutters and burst water pipes, you can use this checklist to ensure you don’t forget essential annual steps to be winter-ready at home.

Check trees: Heavy rain can saturate the soil, and a stiff wind can topple a weakened tree. A tree fall could cause thousands of dollars of damage to your cozy home or injure a household member. A dead branch covered in snow or whipped by wind can go down with serious consequences. Have a tree service check your trees for weather danger.

Clean gutters and downspouts: Clogged gutters can cause water to back up, damaging the integrity of your cozy home. Keep gutters clear of leaves to ensure that heavy rain and melting snow will be safely channeled off your roof and away from the house.

Protect pipes: A frozen pipe can burst, causing thousands of dollars in damage and possibly making your home unlivable during a storm. Use pipe insulation or heat tape anywhere pipes are exposed to winter’s freezing air — crawl spaces, attic areas, and sheds or garages.

Protect outdoor hoses and faucets: Drain and store garden hoses and sprinklers before the first frost to eliminate the chance that they’ll freeze and burst. Cover outdoor faucets with insulating faucet covers. These steps can help prevent the freezing of water that could burst a pipe. You don’t want that costly and messy problem.

Check fire extinguishers: Make sure fire extinguishers are visible and easily accessed. Check the extinguisher pressure and other parts to know everything will work in an emergency. Review instructions for using your extinguishers.

Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors: Change detector batteries and push the test button to ensure they work. Carbon monoxide can sneak up on you, as it is odorless and colorless. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are first-line defenses.

Clean and inspect your fireplace and chimney: Fireplaces and chimneys must be in good shape to keep you warm. More importantly, if not cleaned annually, they can be fire hazards. Get your fireplace checked out by a pro who has equipment for cleaning chimneys and makes sure dampers work properly.

Give your furnace a checkup: Once a year, it’s a good idea to have your heating system inspected by a professional. To avoid the last-minute rush, consider scheduling this task in early fall, before the heating season begins. If in poor repair, a furnace can fail to keep you warm during a storm and a broken fresh air exhaust vent can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Schedule annual generator maintenance: Check your whole-house generator or any portable generators that keep your household going during Vashon’s occasionally quite long power outages. Review the steps to connect your generator and start it safely. You don’t want to find out a generator isn’t working when you need it to get through a power outage.

Get a solar checkup, too: Make sure solar panels are cleaned annually. If your system also has a solar battery for backup power, know how to test it and what is connected to it when grid power goes out. Call your solar installation contractor if you need help to understand your system, or if it’s not working correctly.

Inspect outdoor lighting: Ensure outdoor lights work correctly and change bulbs as needed. Outdoor lighting protects your personal safety because it helps you see icy patches and avoid trip hazards.

Be ladder safe: Some of these annual inspections and maintenance tasks might involve climbing ladders or require specialized experience with sophisticated systems such as furnaces. Get someone to help you. An unfortunate mistake could lead to injuries or expensive damage to your home.

Schedule help now: The closer we get to winter weather, the busier the experts get. Get on their schedule now because it could be several weeks before they can get to you and lend a hand.

More checklists

We’ve curated a few checklists (there are dozens of them online) that you can use to drill down on your annual seasonal household checkup.

FEMA boiled its tip list down to just four big-picture items: tinyurl.com/FEMAfall.

Consumer Reports compiled ten tips from their experts: tinyurl.com/CR10tips.

Better Homes & Gardens gathered 15 seasonal maintenance ideas: tinyurl.com/BHGseasonaltips.

Inexpensive covers that clamp onto outdoor faucets might protect exposed plumbing from freezing. The hose in this picture has already been drained of water, so it won’t freeze up over the winter. (Courtesy photo)