What does drought do to fall foliage? Any weather nerds out there?

[SquarePeg]

Not sure if this should be in Off Topic Chat or here. We've had some serious drought going on in New England this Spring and Summer. Today while walking the dog I noticed that there are a lot of dried up leaves on the ground. Leaves that didn't turn color before falling. Also there is absolutely no color visible so far, even after a few cold nights - it doesn't look like anything has started to turn.

Wondering what the serious lack of rain so far will do to the leaf peeping this year. Will it cause an earlier or later leaf turn? Will the foliage be less spectacular than usual due to the dry conditions? Not sure how all that works. What's the science on all of that? All I know is that it usually peaks North to South late September to mid October.

 

[smoke665]

Same here in North Alabama, we are really dry on the mountain. Some color starting to show, but mostly just dried up brown.

 

[SquarePeg]

Same here in North Alabama, we are really dry on the mountain. Some color starting to show, but mostly just dried up brown.

Alabama and New England. At least we'll have football.

 

[kundalini]

Unfortunately because of HB2, it appears North Carolina won't be seeing any NCAA football or basketball national tournaments for a while. As a native Tar Heel and staunch ACC fan, that is such a shame.

And now for the weather.....

In my experience, an above average rainfall and colder temperatures by early autumn will produce a more abundant fall foliage spectacle.

 

[smoke665]

FYI the gurus around here say the heat and drought combined are going to limit the amount of color.

There's only there seasons in the south - SEC Football, BCS Championship, and Practice. Last weekend it was so hot during the Bama game they had to drag out the SEC & National Championship trophies to stack up along the edge of the field to block the sun.

 

[smoke665]

Unfortunately because of HB2, it appears North Carolina won't be seeing any NCAA football or basketball national tournaments for a while.

I was just watching this on the news. It seems to me that NC is being singled out unfairly

 

[kundalini]

Our governor is being a prick. The state will lose untold millions. The bids for NCAA tourney's are only every four years. It seems the ACC is now thinking to do the same. We have UNC, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, plus others in lesser know colleges. As a history, more (ACC) championship men's basketball has been played in North Carolina than any other state. With ACC's expansion program over the past years, the lime light could surely be diminished from my fair state with this ridiculous rule.

Apologies to the Mods for political chit-chat.

 

[SquarePeg]

In my experience, an above average rainfall and colder temperatures by early autumn will produce a more abundant fall foliage spectacle.

That does not bode well for New England foliage this year.

 

[snowbear]

Yes - drought = less color.

 

[pendennis]

It can generally be rather dry up until the first of August. If the rain "catches up" starting then, the colors will generally be good. However, if it's dry toward the end of August, the colors will be very limited. We're seeing the start of the color changeover in southeast Michigan, but it's not going to be a really beautiful fall.

We had real problems in our garden this year. The peppers and tomatoes really suffered from the heat this year, and the picking season is very short.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Leaves? Did you have any left after that Gypsy Moth explosion? They were eating everything in sight a few weeks ago.
Yea, not hearing good things in the leaf peeping department this year.

 

[SquarePeg]

Leaves? Did you have any left after that Gypsy Moth explosion? They were eating everything in sight a few weeks ago.
Yea, not hearing good things in the leaf peeping department this year.

Is that what ate my flowering pear tree?

 

[jsecordphoto]

Not sure where in New England you are, but I spent the last week up at Sugarloaf in Maine and the leaves are starting to change up there. Here in central NH where I live, it's still mostly green but that's normal for mid September. Southern New England had it much worse this year with the drought, still dry here but we at least got some rain.

 

[SquarePeg]

Not sure where in New England you are, but I spent the last week up at Sugarloaf in Maine and the leaves are starting to change up there. Here in central NH where I live, it's still mostly green but that's normal for mid September. Southern New England had it much worse this year with the drought, still dry here but we at least got some rain.

I'm just a few miles north of Boston. Even on days when it rained everywhere else we got nothing. Rain is expected tomorrow.

 

[KmH]

I'll be spending 6 days on Amtrak's California Zephyr the middle of next month.
So I'm hoping for some pretty, colorful fall foliage on deciduous trees when we cross the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada mountains.