Foliage: Longer season unfolding
After fast start, leaf colors might last longer than usual, Pa. says..
As widely reported, some of the tree species around here and elsewhere in the Northeast got a brisk start on the season with early splashes of color.
In its weekly update, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry noted that the oaks have been taking their good old times, compared with the early-changing maples, dogwood, and ash.
"This should result in a longer than normal autumn display," that's providing some nasty thunderstorms don't come along with leaf-removing gusty winds.
A strong front is coming through on schedule this weekend, but the thunderstorm/high wind threat appears minimal.
So far this season conditions for foliage evidently have been ideal with mostly dry days, ample sunshine, and no hard early freezes.
In fact, part of the region remains in the "abnormally dry" zone on the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map.
As of Tuesday, the trees around here were at 10 to 15 percent of color, with "nice color" along the Schuylkill Valley, according to the bureau, and up to 80 percent of peak color was evident along the northern tier of the state.
Farther north, we have seen borderline gushy reports out of Vermont about the explosion of color.
Evoking Columbus's hyperbolic descriptions of the flora of the New World, Vermont.com quotes "veteran foresters" as calling the colors "'practically neon.'"
If you're heading up that way, better take the sunglasses.