news-record.com

The drier weather that western North Carolina experienced during the spring and early summer means a more colorful fall leaf season starting in October, one forecaster said today.

"Although there was enough rainfall this spring to keep the trees healthy, we are still in drought conditions in the western part of the state, which surprisingly is good for fall color," Katherine Mathews of Western Carolina University said in a press release.

Part of the reason is that the summer temperatures have not been as consistently hot compared with last year, she said. That means there's less of a chance leaves will drop prematurely compared with last fall.

"This year, the trees should be on a more typical color schedule, peaking in mid-October in the mountains," she said. "And a sharp cooling of temperatures in September and October would really cause the colors to burst, as this stimulates the production of anthocyanin, or red pigments."

Bright colors typically begin to appear in the higher elevations of the northwestern sections of North Carolina in early October. The fall colors then progress south and down slopes through mid-October and early November.

Yellow birches, red sourwoods, red and yellow maples, yellow pin cherries and yellow poplars will be the first colors to show, Mathews said.

They will be followed by the yellow and red of oaks and sweet gums, yellow of hickories, yellow and brown of beeches, and a variety of other color shades in the vines, shrubs and smaller trees beneath the forest canopy.

Peak fall color should arrive five to 10 days after the first frost.