When could leaves change colors in NC mountains? This fall foliage map has clues
With summer winding down, it won’t take long before Western North Carolina starts to show signs of fall.
But after a streak of warmer temperatures, when can fall foliage lovers expect to see the leaves change in the mountains?
Beverly Collins, a professor at Western Carolina University, said the transition can come to places in the north and at higher elevations as early as late September — but the displays could look a bit different in 2022. Here’s what to know if you live in or plan to visit the mountains.
When will the leaves change?
A map from the smokymountains.com website offers some clues about the start of this year’s transition. It predicts that a small area along the Tennessee border will see a “minimal” change in colors around Sept. 12.
A more widespread transition is expected in late September, when hints of fall are expected to reach all parts of Western North Carolina. Around that time, the extent of colorful foliage could range from “minimal” to “partial.”
Then in mid-October, most places could see fall colors at or near their peak, the map shows.
The forecast roughly lines up with predictions from national park sites. The Blue Ridge Parkway — a popular leaf peeping destination running more than 400 miles through the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia — said the start of the annual transition varies based on elevation.
“At higher elevations, where the climate is similar to New England’s, scattered trees sometimes begin developing fall color as early as late-September,” officials said. “However, the majority of trees typically change color during the month of October, starting early in the month on the highest peaks and progressing down the mountainsides into the lower elevations as the month passes.”
Also touching the western part of the state, Great Smoky Mountains National Park said its transition often starts in mid-September, with places above 4,000 feet of elevation seeing leaves change around October.
So if you make it to the mountains sometime in October or early November, it’s likely you will see at least some of nature’s colorful display.
“Our color season lasts a pretty long time, so you won’t be disappointed,” Collins told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “You may have to hunt a little more, or you may not have to hunt at all.”
How could the leaves look?
Collins said leaves change their colors as days get shorter and overnight temperatures start to drop. Those patterns signal the chlorophyll inside the plants to start to break down.
“Trees will continue to photosynthesize and stay green until they get some cue to not do that,” she said.
But the more gradually the weather changes, there’s a chance that the fall leaf displays get out of sync. This year, the vistas could be a “little less dramatic because some of those colors are changing later and some of those colors are changing earlier,” according to Collins.
“We might not be getting as cold as early in the year this year,” Collins told McClatchy News. “That’s what happened last year, and that’s probably going to be the trend from now on with climate warming.”
Another curveball could come from future extreme weather events. High winds or remnants of hurricanes could take leaves off trees, impacting the fall leaf forecast, the professor said.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 7:00 AM with the headline "When could leaves change colors in NC mountains? This fall foliage map has clues."
