Leaf-peeping season hampered by drought: Fall foliage dropping sooner, showing less color

PORTLAND Maine AP Leaf-peeping season has arrived in the Northeast and beyond but weeks of drought have muted this year s autumn colors and sent leaves fluttering to the ground earlier than usual Soaking in the fall foliage is an annual tradition in the New England states as well as areas such as the Rocky Mountains of Colorado Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina and Upper Peninsula of Michigan As the days shorten and temperatures drop chlorophyll in leaves breaks down and they turn to the autumn tones of yellow orange and red But dry weather in summer and fall can change all that because the lack of water causes leaves to brown and fall more rapidly And that s happening this year as more than of the country was considered to be in a drought in early October according to the U S Drought Monitor That s more than twice the average revealed Brad Rippey a U S Department of Agriculture meteorologist and an author of the drought monitor which is a partnership between the federal authorities and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Drought has hit the Northeast and western U S especially hard he disclosed It all adds up to fewer leaves to peep I think it might be a little bit of a short and less colorful season for the the bulk part Rippey noted The color is just not going to be there this year for particular hillsides Fewer leaves but multiple peepers Despite the gloomy forecast autumn enthusiasts commented it s still a great year to get out and enjoy nature s fireworks display There is still a lot of color in New England s trees reported Andy Finton senior conservation ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts Surroundings change is stressing forests with severe weather and heat waves but autumn in New England remains a beautiful time of year to experience the wonderment of forest ecosystems firsthand he noted Our trees and our forests have an inherent resilience Finton disclosed They are still very resilient and I am constantly surprised at how wonderful the fall season is despite these stresses The tourism business built around leaf peeping has also proven resilient At the Mills Falls Resort Collection at the Lake in Meredith New Hampshire general manager Barbara Beckwith announced business is good at the four inns that have rooms The number of Canadian tourists is down Beckwith acknowledged but she noted that has been made up with domestic leaf peepers mostly from New England Beckwith stated her properties were booked solid on weekends through mid-October and had been for weeks This year is in fact going to be better than last year Beckwith reported Last year was an electoral process and that put a lot of trepidation in people Now they are traveling The uncertainty of the voting is over We all know whose president now and we are traveling Chris Proulx executive director of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce stated the decline in Canadian tourists by as much as seen this summer has continued into the fall But the region is faring better he commented thanks to an uptick in travelers from other countries and its reputation for having one of the country s best leaf peeping seasons This is the one season where people make plans in advance to come in addition to travelers from all of the country and all over the world Proulx declared Muted show in the Rocky Mountains Leaf peeping was so popular in Colorado s Rocky Mountains this year that one town temporarily closed its highway offramp to alleviate gridlock The area put on a display of yellow aspen trees dotting the mountains between evergreens their delicate leaves vibrating in the wind But there were signs of a dry spring in the central part of the state which was more severe the farther west you expedition commented Colorado State Forest Provision entomologist Dan West who spends a multitude of fall days in a plane looking at how insect infestations are affecting tree wellbeing Crispy edges muted colors and dropping leaves before they can take on a red or purple hue are all signs of drought stress West reported The tree is shutting down processes early and we basically just see this muted kind of a show for the fall he announced In Denver arborist Michael Sundberg also declared he s seeing less vibrant color than usual and autumn feels like it arrived earlier than usual this year It s still a beautiful time of year but there might be less of it to enjoy he declared It s weird to have color peaking this early in the mountains and then for Denver to be peaking at the same time he revealed Usually we re later in October before we really go off Casey announced from Boston Associated Press journalist Brittany Peterson contributed reporting from Denver Source