While every autumn is beautiful in the Twin Tiers, there's no doubt that the colors are more spectacular some years than others. I recently came across an excellent description of what weather conditions create the most brilliant fall colors, and why. Enjoy:
During warm, sunny days, trees produce a lot of sugar within their leaves, when the temp drops off more significantly at night, this traps the sugars in the leaves (as the veins close during colder weather) preventing the sugars from moving out. This condition, lots of sun and sugar, produces brilliant red/purple/crimson pigments in leaves. Trees that produce gold/orange fall color will usually stay more consistent from year to year.
Excessive rainfall during the early Fall months (beginning in September) generally means more “muted” Fall colors, as sugars can more easily leave the foliage, less sugar in the leaves during the onset of Fall means less brilliant red/crimson colors.
If the above is true, we should be in for a spectacular show this season after the mild, dry, and sunny September...
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