Natural History Wanderings

Appalachian State University has a new report on North Carolina Fall Color for 9/27/15

Starting on Thursday of this past week, a low pressure system became stalled off the east coast of the Carolinas, bringing substantial amounts of rain and wind all the way into the mountains of western North Carolina and Tennessee, plus upstate South Carolina and Georgia.  However, the cloud cover also moderated low nighttime temperatures, and while it has been cool during the days, it hasn’t been getting as cold at night like it did prior to these rains.  When there are clear skies, infra-red radiation (heat) can escape into space, resulting in cold mornings.

As a result, the development of fall leaf color has slowed down this past week, something that I had mentioned could happen.  This means that we are probably back on a regular schedule for peak leaf colors, meaning that colors will peak during the first week of October at high elevations (4,500’ or above), around mid-October (the 10^th through the 16^th from 4,500’ to 2,500’), and during the last week of October in the Asheville area (~2,000 – 2,500’).

Russell Funderburk, the horticulture specialist at Highlands Biological Station, in Highlands, NC, which is at an elevation of ~4,000’, reports that as of this past Friday, the red maples and sourwoods were beginning to show brilliant color, while the poplar and beech were slightly behind, with just a hint of yellow.  In Franklin, at a lower elevation of just 2,300’, the overall progression appears to be slightly behind Highlands, and the color slightly less brilliant. There, the hickories and oaks are beginning to brown, but with very little color expression.

Of course, there are locations here and there scattered throughout the Appalachian chain in NC that have well-developed color.  I’ve seen photos of Craggy Gardens, about 20 miles north of Asheville, that shows good color now.  I’m sure Graveyards, south of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway, is also starting to show a lot of color too. Here’s this week’s summary of good fall color sites to visit from the Asheville tourism office, RomanticAsheville, High Country Host here in Boone/Blowing Rock, and Blue Ridge Mountain Life websites:

http://www.exploreasheville.com/seasonal-fun/fall/weekly-fall-forecast-and-color-report/

http://www.romanticasheville.com/fall.htm

http://highcountryhost.com/nc-high-country-fall-color-guide/

http://blueridgemountainlife.com/fall-foliage/

The Smokies are still approaching peak colors, with the highest elevations turning now, but the lower elevations are still quite green.  You can check out this website for details from the Park:

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/fallcolor.htm

Here is the North Carolina official fall leaf color site, which has reports from sites in the western mountains:

http://www.visitnc.com/fall-reports/mountains

And finally, if you’re looking for some different places to see fall leaf colors, and perhaps want to get away from the hordes that congregate on the Blue Ridge Parkway, check out these suggestions from the U.S. Forest Service for good fall leaf color sites in western North Carolina:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nfsnc/home/?cid=stelprdb5326570

It has rained continuously since Thursday of this last week, and the weather forecast for the entire coming week is somewhat bleak – at least a 30% to 50% chance of rain every day until Friday (even thunderstorms on Tuesday!), with moderate temperatures every day.  This will probably keep the rate of fall leaf color development at a slow pace, but not stop it.  So, be patient.  The rain, which we need, will abate by the following weekend, and that weekend should be the first really good one for full-fledged fall leaf color viewing.  One thing in our favor is that all this rain has occurred prior to the leaf color peak, when the leaves are still held on the trees fairly strongly.  So while some leaves have come down during this recent stormy spate, the majority that have not yet turned color are still attached tightly to the trees.  So, I’m optimistic that we’ll have plenty of leaves left for a great fall color display in the next few weeks.