Despite a rough patch of drought, and the hit the region took by Helene, Virginia is expected to have a good, but not great, fall color season.
Virginia Tech professor of forest biology John Seiler typically categorizes the seasons as good, better, and best.
He believes conditions will be good the next couple of weekends, but certainly not poor, having surveyed the same part of the New River Valley for about forty years.
Before Helene hit Southwest Virginia in late September, the hot, dry, weather in August did cause a lot of leaves to drop. Seiler said more leaves fell when they became re-hydrated. But he’s quick to point out some species will hold their colors later this month.
“Yellow poplars this year, they’re not going to help much with our fall color season,” he said. “They only have about half their leaves still. And what’s down at your feet – it’s not a good yellow. It's a brown, yellowy, crinkle-y shape. But then oaks for example- they’re still in pretty good shape.”
Many leaf peepers will hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, now that it’s reopened in Virginia. Wherever you go, Seiler advises to look around a bit.
“You want to change up and down elevation,” he explained. “We don’t just have this homogenous blend. There’s trees on southeast sides, and there’s trees on northeast sides, and everything in between. So you want something where you’re moving around through all that geological diversity."
Seiler says peak color times are close to when they’re typically expected this fall, in the last two weekends of October, with some trees holding those colors into early November.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
