CLEVELAND, Ohio – Hoping to plan the perfect fall getaway timed to maximum seasonal splash?
Schedule your fall outing for mid- to late-October, says Ohio Department of Natural Resources forester David Parrott.
Parrott, the department’s designated fall color expert, is predicting what he describes as average or normal timing for peak autumn hues throughout the state – the week of Oct. 18 for northern Ohio and a week later for the central and southern areas of the state.
“Average fall color for Ohio isn’t a bad thing,” he said. In fact, he said, it’s usually quite spectacular, with the state’s wide variety of tree species providing a vibrant mix of colors over a period of several weeks every autumn.
The shortening of days is the biggest scientific trigger of color change – and that happens in September like clockwork. The biggest unknown variable is weather, which also can have a dramatic effect on the color season.
“You want the warm days and the cool nights,” he said. “That’s what brings out the deep reds.”
As of early this week, September temperatures in northern Ohio are tracking right about normal, although late September and early October are predicted to be warmer than average, according to Nick Greenawalt, with the Cleveland office of the National Weather Service. Precipitation, meanwhile, is also about average for the year, although rainfall in September is below normal, he said.
Prolonged periods of drought, according to Parrott, can affect both the timing and vibrancy of fall color. Storms, too, can pull leaves off trees prematurely.
“All of this is a prediction and it’s subject to change, based on the weather we get,” said Parrott. “Any weather extremes, one way or another, can have an impact on the home stretch.”
As in years past, color trackers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will monitor fall color throughout the state, with color watchers at a couple dozen state parks, preserves and forests updating an interactive map every week, starting Thursday, Sept. 23 (see fallcolor.ohiodnr.gov).
For a full season of fall activities in Ohio, check out the TourismOhio’s “100 Things to do in Ohio this Fall,” at ohio.org.
If your travels will take you out of the state this fall, monitor peak color across the country via an interactive map put together by tourism site SmokyMountains.com. A sliding button at the bottom of the map shows how fall color is expected to progress from north to south, Maine to Florida (smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map).
For 2021, the map shows near-peak conditions coming as soon as late September to some popular areas for leaf peeping, including northern Michigan, western New York and western North Carolina. The site uses historical and current data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as other sources, to make its predictions.
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