Despite recent fall-like temperatures, especially at night, we’re still almost two weeks away from the official start of fall. The recent cool spell has leaves changing color slightly earlier than last year in the Adirondacks.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the amount of rain during the summer doesn’t really play a part in how vibrant fall foliage will be. With that being said, heavy rain/wind events may knock down leaves before they ever have a chance to turn color.

So what determines the color a leaf turns? It depends on the species of the tree.

Red maples, scarlet oaks and red sumacs are known for their leaves turning red.

Sugar maples, which contain carotene, turn orange. (Fun fact: Carotene is also the chemical responsible giving carrots their orange color! Carot-ene, get it?)

Last, but not least, birches, ashes, beeches, aspens and some oaks have the yellow leaves you see.

Xanthophyll is also what gives squash and corn their yellow color.

With warmer than average temperatures forecasted over the next two weeks, it’ll be interesting to see how the leaves come along.

Going forward, this blog will share the latest foliage conditions across New England, along with foliage photos from you guys!

Feel free to share any foliage pics to our Facebook page, Twitter or by email to ryan.finn@charter.com.

Next week there will (hopefully) be a more in-depth report which includes all of New England, but for now, here is the latest foliage report for this weekend from iloveny.com.