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Tint Hints: Colder weather and recent rains bring hopes for bright leaf-viewing season
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Published: September 23, 2008
BOONE
Fall started yesterday with cool hints of what could be the most colorful leaf season in several years in the Western North Carolina mountains.
Clear skies and temperatures dipping into the 40s are setting the stage.
What happens in the next few weeks will determine just how colorful things get, said Gary Walker, a biology professor at Appalachian State University.
The ideal weather would be "a cold snap followed by cool, clear days to break down the chlorophyll that is masking the colors in the leaves," he said.
Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color. Some of the colors are there all along, hidden by the green. The cold also traps sugar, or glucose, in the leaves, and the sugar interacts with sunlight to yield the bright reds.
Kathy Gould Matthews, an assistant biology professor at Western Carolina University, said that recent rains will keep leaves on the trees and extend the season. "We should hope for a rapid cooling of temperatures in late September into October for the best fall color show," she said. "Normally, the peak color occurs within a week after the first frost."
Such Northwest North Carolina mountain counties as Avery, Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga could have the most colorful leaves in the mountains this year, Walker said.
That's because the drought was not as severe this summer in the Northwest counties as it was farther west. Drought causes trees to shut down early and not produce as many sugars.
The Northwest mountains also had good conditions for tree growth last spring and in the early summer, with some nice rains.
Views also should be good about anywhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway, experts said, because of the high elevations and colder air there.
Colors come earliest to such higher elevations as Grandfather Mountain, with reds, oranges and yellows painting the mountain in early October.
Most of the mountains are still green and leafy around Boone. Some overly stressed trees are turning a bit. Sourwoods, which yield a deep red and are often the earliest trees to show their colors, are starting to turn.
Walker said that the world climate change is making it more difficult to predict leaf seasons but that leaf watchers should know soon enough.
"We still have got two or three weeks to tell the tale," he said. "The earlier we get that cold snap, the better."
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
■ A wire service report is included in this story.
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