The leaves are going to be changing soon, creating the fall foliage that draws many people to New England.
But it could be a different kind of fall this year.
With the question of what we can expect, 7NEWS spoke with fall foliage expert Jim Salge who said recent weather will play a role.
“The drought last year was one of the big factors we considered,” said Salge, an expert with Yankee Magazine. “Since then, there have been three really high impact days — we had the really cold Arctic day in February, we had the late frost and freeze in May and then the flooding rains in July.”
In addition to individual days, Salge said this year’s rainy summer could also impact the color of leaves.
“The interior forest looks good, but some of our tree-lined streets that people love in fall with those big golden sugar maples are definitely suffering a bit from all the wet weather,” he said.
Northern New England can expect a late but long peak foliage season with a more muted palette.
“We don’t think it’s going to be a bright punchy display but more pastel and long-lasting this year,” Salge said.
“Southern New England — same thing, we’re anticipating a bit of a late forecast and more muted colors.”
Sunny days and cool nights could move the timetable up. But Salge said next month is the best time to plan a trip.
“The three-day weekend in October typically has the most area of New England reaching peak, especially northern New England, and may be a bit delayed this year,” Salge said.
Peak foliage across New England typically arrives in late September, moving north to south by late October. A later arrival time could translate to a delay of anywhere from a week to 10 days.
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