Fall colors get a kick-start this weekend across the Southern Appalachians

By: Lead Forecaster Daniel Crawley

Good Wednesday evening,

We have been talking about a cooldown all week and obviously today’s cold air damming episode has brought temperatures more than 25 degrees below what we have been seeing virtually all of September.

This cool snap will hopefully give a kick in the pants to the fall colors in the Southern Appalachians. Right now any notable color is limited to above 5,000 ft elevation in western North Carolina, which is slightly behind the climatological schedule. Usually by now some decent color is showing up as low as 4,000 ft but the warm conditions has prevented the color show from accelerating.

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So, what are the big players to produce fall color? Having a weather pattern that provides consistent mild afternoons and cool nights is very important this time of the year. Ultimately other factors such as drought or deluge play into the equation. Tropical systems and the wind associated with hurricanes can impact foliage. Overall, you want the weather this time of the year to be quiet with lower humidity

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This weekend is going to provide the cooler nights for sure as humidity will be scoured out and colder air moves into the Eastern US thanks to the developing nor’easter off the coast and resultant upper-level trough centered to our northeast. Right now, it appears that  Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings will be the coolest coming up over the next seven days. A lot of upper 40’s are going to show up in the foothills a couple of those mornings, lower 40’s above 3,500 feet elevation and some 30’s on the high peaks and sheltered mountain valleys.

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Just to remind everyone, the peak season for fall colors begins in early-to-mid October across the mountains and works down into the foothills by early November.