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The vibrant display of autumn foliage in the Northeast and other popular U.S. regions has been significantly diminished this year, with several weeks of drought causing faded colors and unseasonably early fall of leaves.
The annual tradition of ‘Patta-Jhank’, nurtured in areas like new EnglandThe Rocky Mountainsand the Great Smoky Mountains, as days shorten and temperatures drop, chlorophyll breaks down, revealing stunning yellows, oranges and reds. However, prolonged dry conditions in summer and autumn hamper this scenic view.
Lack of water speeds up the browning process and causes premature leaf fall. This year, the phenomenon is particularly widespread, with the U.S. Drought Monitor reporting that more than 40 percent of the country was experiencing drought conditions by early October.
That’s more than twice the average, said Brad Rippy, a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist and author of the Drought Monitor, a partnership between the federal government and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The drought has particularly hit the northeastern and western US, he said.
All this adds up to fewer leaves to peek through.
“I think for the most part it may be a slightly shorter and less colorful season,” Rippy said. “There will be no color on some hills this year.”
Despite the gloomy forecast, autumn lovers said it’s still a good year to get outside and enjoy nature’s fireworks. There’s still plenty of color in New England’s trees, said Andy Finton, senior conservation ecologist at The Nature Conservancy. Massachusetts,
Extreme weather and heat waves caused by climate change are putting pressure on forests, he said, but autumn in New England is a beautiful time of year to experience firsthand the wonder of forest ecosystems.
“There is inherent resilience in our trees and our forests,” Finton said. “They are still very resilient, and I am constantly amazed at how wonderful the fall season is despite these stresses.”
The tourism business built around leaf peeping has also proven resilient. At Mills Falls Resort Collection on Lake Meredith, new HampshireGeneral manager Barbara Beckwith said business is good at the four inns with 170 rooms. Beckwith acknowledged that the number of Canadian tourists has declined, but said it has increased due to domestic leaf peepers, mostly from New England.
Beckwith said his properties were booked on weekends and for several weeks through mid-October.
“This year is really going to be better than last year,” Beckwith said. “Last year there were elections and it caused a lot of panic among people. Now, they are travelling. The uncertainty of the elections is over. We all know who is the president now and we are travelling.”
Chris Proulx, executive director of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the number of Canadian tourists continues to decline by up to 80% this summer. But the area is doing better, he said, thanks to an increase in the number of travelers from other countries and its reputation as one of the country’s best leaf-peeping seasons.
“This is a season where people plan in advance to come, in addition to travelers from all over the country and the world,” Proulx said.
leaf peeping was very popular coloradoThis year a Rocky Mountain town temporarily closed an upper portion of its highway to ease congestion. Among the evergreen plants in this area, yellow aspen trees spread across the mountains, their delicate leaves swaying in the wind.
But there were signs of a dry spring in the central part of the state, which will be more severe the farther west you travel, said Dan West, an entomologist with the Colorado State Forest Service, who spends many fall days in airplanes watching how insect infestations are affecting the health of trees.
Crisp edges, faded color, and leaves dropping before turning red or purple are all signs of drought stress, West said.
“The tree is shutting down the processes early and we basically see this silent type of show for the fall,” he said.
In denverArborist Michael Sundberg also said he’s seeing less vibrant colors than usual, and autumn seems to have arrived earlier than usual this year. That said, it’s still a beautiful time of year, but there may be less time to enjoy it.
“It’s weird to have color peak so early in the mountains and then have color peak at the same time in Denver,” he said. “Usually that’s in October before we actually leave.”