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| Wild turkeys enjoying the fall foliage in Franklin County, Vermont last October. |
Which meants its time to speculate on how the peak fall foliage will look.
The early colors I saw Thursday looked kind of blah, but of course the trees had been blasted by wind and rain and hail, so many of the few leaves that had already turned color had fallen.
Last year, the early colors were also blah, and we ended up with a beautiful, vibrant peak season. So hope springs eternal.
There's a lot of guessing, but no clear answers on what causes great fall color versus a "Meh!" season.
Scientists are studying the ins and outs of how leaves turn color and how weather influences the changes, but there's no clear answers yet.
Some experts say dry summer weather stresses trees, which in turn creates bright colors, but I've seen great foliage after a wet summer.
Other tree experts say a lot depends upon what the weather is like in September. There's no firm conclusions, but some indications are cool, sunny, somewhat dry weather in September can lead to a brilliant October, but wet, warm weather could dampen colors.
For the past couple of days it's been extremely warm and very wet, but that hasn't lasted long. And the forecast calls for cool, dry weather for the next several days.
No matter what happens, I'm sure the color in Vermont will be brilliant as always. How brilliant compared to other years is anybody's guess, though.
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