AccuWeather's 2024 fall foliage forecast

AccuWeather

Leaf-peeping season is right around the corner. Lincoln Riddle has more on where you should go for the best fall foliage this year in the United States.

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00:00Fall foliage is complex. Whether the leaves are vibrant or dull and even how

00:05long peak foliage lasts is based on many weather factors such as how dry or wet

00:10it was over the summer, early fall temperatures, wind and more. For that

00:15reason, AccuWeather's Paul Pastelok says there's a lot to consider when

00:19putting together the fall foliage forecast. The one thing that we

00:22typically look first at is how's the summer going? If we do get decent amount

00:28of rainfall, keeping the trees less stressed from the dryness and drought

00:32conditions, generally going into the fall you can have a pretty good season

00:37despite what happens in the early fall. For leaf peepers seeking the best

00:40foliage this fall, Pastelok says you'll want to head north. You've got to get

00:45into western New York, central northern Pennsylvania where we haven't

00:49experienced long-term drought during the summer. Another big area from the Great

00:54Lakes Midwest down to the Lower Mississippi Valley looks pretty good as

00:58well. Duller fall colors are a possibility for many areas in the U.S.

01:02this year including parts of the Mountain West and the Plains as well as

01:06the central and southern Appalachians and the I-95 corridor. Pastelok says

01:12there are some wild cards that may impact the foliage in a given area such

01:17as wind and hurricane season. The bigger concern is tropical season. We're

01:22expecting to be very active September into October and this could knock

01:26down a lot of leaves like in the Carolinas and parts of northern Georgia

01:30and eastern Tennessee. The average peak time for fall foliage is heavily

01:34dependent on your viewing area's geographic location so if you're

01:38planning a trip to get out and see the vibrant foliage you'll want to take that

01:42into consideration. Reporting for AccuWeather, I'm Lincoln Riddle.

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