Despite the hot and dry summer, much of the Southern Appalachian Mountains should still offer gorgeous fall hues in the weeks ahead. With the official start of fall just days away, many are looking forward to seeing the season make its mark on the local landscape. To help the region prepare for what’s in store, ETSU officials will be releasing weekly predictions on fall color–and the first report is in.
“We live in an absolutely stunning area, with beautiful and diverse trees and vegetation,” said Travis Watson, ETSU’s campus arborist, in a press release. “Our hope is that this weekly update will help the public enjoy the breathtaking beauty of our region even more.” ETSU Campus Arborist Travis Watson will be working with Tennessee State Climatologist Andrew Joyner to release weekly predictions on the region's fall color.
Watson, who holds a master’s degree in biology from ETSU, will be working with Andrew Joyner, Tennessee’s official climatologist and an associate professor in ETSU's department of geosciences. Together, Watson and Joyner will study historical data, long-range weather forecasts and more to form predictions, and will be sharing thoughts on a variety of topics, including how recent weather–temperature, precipitation and storms–affects fall hues. “From drought conditions to unusually hot temperatures, weather plays a major role, sometimes increasing the vibrancy of autumn color or playing spoiler for those who enjoy leaf peeping,” Joyner said in a press release.
In their first prediction of the season, Watson and Joyner shared some good news: despite the hot and dry summer, much of the Southern Appalachian Mountains should still offer gorgeous fall hues in the weeks ahead. As of Thursday, slight pops of color could be seen in the trees surrounding Willow Springs Park in Johnson City. “Our region experienced a fairly typical spring followed by a very dry start of the summer,” Watson said in a press release.
“All of this has made for very stressful conditions for our local trees and has resulted in early leaf drop in many species.” It is the vast botanical diversity in the Southern Appalachian forests that are helping to deliver these bright fall colors despite the harsh conditions. In fact, Watson said that there are over 100 species of deciduous hardwoods in Southern Appalachia, and this variety offers a broad color palette that usually lasts longer than the mountainous areas in the northeastern portion of the United States.
Watson said that the typical spring and the dry start to summer has made for stressful conditions for the trees, resulting in an early leaf drop for many species. “For our region, I expect that the majority of the mountains and higher elevations will have a fairly normal fall display,” Watson said. Joyner added that the additional rainfall the region received due to Hurricane Francine could also help in areas where leaves are dropping prematurely due to dry conditions.
“As long as we continue to see cool nights and sunny days as we move into fall, we should still see a decent color display,” Watson said. “Some areas heavily impacted by the drought and extreme temperatures might have less canopy density and therefore a diminished display.” Watson and Joyner will continue to make fall color predictions every Thursday until the season ends.
This is the third year that ETSU has been offering a weekly fall color prediction; Watson and Joyner will continue to make fall predictions every Thursday until the season ends. Predictions will be available on ETSU’s social media channels as well as online at: www.etsu.
edu/etsu-news/ ..
