The colors are coming along nicely across New England. Sufficient rain, a smattering of dry, sunny breaks, and not-too-hot temperatures this summer have set us up for success this foliage season. The only missing piece: cool temperatures.
Granted, we have seen some cool readings in the past couple of weeks (primarily at night), but this has been offset with very warm daytime temperatures. Tack on our recent record-setting dry spell of 30 days in Boston (which ranked 4th all-time), and you might be wondering why we’re not seeing massive leaf drop everywhere.
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Instead, we’re seeing the colors steadily progress and brighten. It’s worth noting that although the top of the soil is dry, it’s still somewhat moist 1-2 feet below. And while we always see some trees drop leaves/change early due to soil disturbances, pests, or disease, most trees are faring well. After all, they’re more influenced by the overall summer weather, which was neither blistering hot nor riddled with drought.
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This all points to a very good outlook for the foliage season.
We can expect lots of color in the relatively healthy forests to dazzle and delight. IF we can sneak in some overnight lows in the 30s, all the better, but we know those are more of a fluke in September with our warming climate. Chilly temperatures help trap the color as the veins close off nutrients to the leaf. This primarily spurs production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint leaves and plants red, purple, and crimson. Yellow and orange-colored leaves are less affected by cool temperatures.
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The change is well underway across Northern New England. Some nice colors can be found in the Longfellow Range of Maine and in the White Mountains of Northern New Hampshire.
As the color wave progresses south in the coming weeks, we can expect peak around these parts of Southern New England by mid to late October.
Happy travels!
