This fall’s foliage forecast is out, telling leaf peepers where they can see the best colors of the season. Northern states across the U.S. are forecast to have the best luck this year, according to forecaster AccuWeather. Fall doesn’t officially start until September 22, marking the autumnal equinox.
But most of these areas will see colors peak between late September and mid-October, thanks to lingering summer warmth. New England and upstate New York will be the best places for viewing this year, AccuWeather notes. New England’s season was muted last year due to drought.
That’s not the case this year, fall foliage blogger Jim Salge wrote last week. The Midwest and areas along the Northwest Cascade mountains could also have good color if dry days and cool nights arrive at the right time – but drought and wildfires could impact the quality of foliage in the interior Northwest. Fires are continuing to burn in Oregon and Washington, with summer heat expected to linger amid the intensifying El Niño climate pattern.
California is typically riddled with blazes, but has seen fewer fires this year and is less impacted by drought, the federal U.S. Conditions there mean fall color could impress, as well, AccuWeather said. ”Typical or vibrant foliage is expected across the Sierra Nevada and portions of northern California, where significant drought has largely been avoided and wildfire activity has been limited,” the forecaster wrote. Fall colors there are projected peak in mid-to-late October, with calmer weather provide good chances for viewing.
Other areas of the U.S. aren’t so lucky. The nearby Colorado Rockies had less snow than normal last year, and Colorado is one of the states of the West most affected by drought right now. "The aspens in Colorado should not be as spectacular as previous years," AccuWeather expert senior meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.
And yellowing leaves there right now are “not really fall colors,” Dan West, an entomologist and longtime leaf watcher with the Colorado State Forest Service, told The Denver Gazette this month. You’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, that plant looks yellow.'” Drought is also impacting trees in the mid-Atlantic and Carolinas, which is why Pastelok says the contrast between northern and southern Pennsylvania could be “drastic.” The leaves change color naturally in response to falling temperatures and shorter days, with reduced levels of the green pigment chlorophyll turning the leaves bright orange, yellow, red, and even purple. But heat and drought tied to climate change can stress trees, turning their leaves brown before these colors appear, the non-profit Climate Central says.
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