Portland, Maine — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Leaf peeping season has arrived in the Northeast and beyond, but weeks of drought have dampened fall colors this year and sent leaves fluttering to the ground earlier than usual.
Leaf maceration is an annual tradition in the New England states as well as areas such as the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As the days shorten and temperatures drop, the chlorophyll in the leaves decomposes, turning autumn shades of yellow, orange, and red.
But dry weather in summer and fall can change all that because a lack of water causes leaves to turn brown and fall more quickly. This is what is happening this year, as more than 40% of the country was considered to be on alert drought In early October, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
That’s more than double the average, said Brad Rippey, a USDA meteorologist and author of the Drought Monitor, a partnership between the federal government and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He added that the drought hit the northeastern and western United States particularly hard.
All of this adds up to fewer papers to peep.
“I think it might be a shortened season and less variety for the most part,” Rippey said. “The color won’t be there this year on some of the hills.”
Despite the bleak forecast, fall enthusiasts said it’s still a great year to get out and enjoy nature’s fireworks display. There’s still plenty of color in New England’s trees, said Andy Fenton, senior ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts.
Climate change is Confirming Forests have extreme weather and heat waves, but fall in New England remains a beautiful time of year to experience the splendor of forest ecosystems firsthand, he said.
“Our trees and forests have an inherent resilience,” Fenton said. “They are still very resilient, and I am always amazed at how great their fall season is despite these pressures.”
Tourism businesses based on leaf peeping have also proven resilient. At the Mills Falls on the Lake resort group in Meredith, New Hampshire, general manager Barbara Beckwith said business is good at the four 170-room lodges. Beckwith acknowledged that the number of Canadian tourists has declined, but said that has been offset by local foliage watchers, most of whom are from New England.
Beckwith said her property was fully booked on weekends until mid-October and had been for weeks.
“This year will be better than last year,” Beckwith said. “Last year there was an election that caused a lot of panic in people. Now, they are traveling. The uncertainty of the election is over. We all know who’s boss now as we travel.”
Chris Proulx, executive director of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the decline in… Canadian The up to 80% increase in tourists we saw this summer continues into the fall. But he said the region is in better shape thanks to an uptick in travelers from other countries and its reputation as one of the country’s best foliage-pecking seasons.
“This is the only season where people make advance plans to come as well as travelers from all over the country and all over the world,” Proulx said.
Leaf peeping was so common in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains this year that one town temporarily closed its highway to alleviate gridlock. The area displayed yellow aspen trees scattered in the mountains among the evergreen trees, their delicate leaves shaking in the wind.
But there were signs of a dry spring in the central part of the state, which was more severe the further west you traveled, said Dan West, an entomologist with the Colorado State Forest Service, who spends many fall days on a plane researching how insect outbreaks affect tree health.
Wavy edges, muted colors and leaves dropping before they can get red or purple are all signs of drought stress, West said.
“The tree shuts down operations early and we basically see this muted kind of fall show,” he said.
In Denver, arborist Michael Sandberg also said he’s seeing less vibrant colors than usual, and fall appears to have arrived earlier than usual this year. It’s still a beautiful time of year, but there may be a little time to enjoy it, he said.
“It’s strange that the color peaks earlier in the mountains and then peaks in Denver at the same time,” he said. “It’s usually later in October before we really take off.”
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Casey reported from Boston. Associated Press journalist Brittany Peterson contributed reporting from Denver.