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Leaf tracking

Feds, Pa. begin posting foliage reports, and an online forecast service opens shop.

The coastal storm now pulling away has been a not-so-gentle reminder that the seasons very definitely have changed. Now comes some more-pleasant reminders.

The U.S. Forest Service has begun posting its foliage updates, based on eyewitness reports, although what we're seeing on the site right now doesn't tell us a whole lot.

The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry map is well-detailed and for our money is one of the best foliage sites out there.

It includes a map with current conditions, the predicted peak windows, and a narrative describing what's up with the trees region by region. It will be updated weekly.

We wish only that Pennsylvania could do this for the whole country.

One other site drawn to our attention does take a shot at national foliage conditions, current and predicted.

We like the format, although obviously the site's keepers have to make some concessions to simplicity and readability and can't take into account all the tremendous variations resulting from the Northeast's diverse elevations.

David Angotti, the SmokyMountain site's co-founder, says the forecasts are based on conditions in spring and summer, National Weather Service historical data and temperature and precipitation forecasts.

The current map shows nothing happening around here, whereas the Pennsylvania map has a more-nuanced picture for the state, and what it shows around here matches our own observations.

As he noted, no foliage forecast is going to be 100 percent accurate.

But for fall foliage, we happen to be in one of the world's most-spectacular regions, and we see a 100 percent chance of periods of magnificence, heavy at times, for the next several weeks.