Leaf-Peeping Season Is Almost Here. These Interactive Maps Can Help You Figure Out When Fall Foliage Will Peak in Your Area

Leaf lovers across the country are preparing for nature’s upcoming wardrobe makeover. Every fall, deciduous trees shed their green hues to display brilliant arrays of crimson, gold and orange. However, catching the precise moment when leaves reach their peak color has long been a tricky gamble.

Go too early, and you miss the show; go too late, and you meet bare branches. To help travelers time their seasonal adventures, prospective leaf peepers can check out several interactive maps that predict the nation’s fall foliage. One of them is Explore Fall, a tool launched about three years ago by Evan Fisher, a meteorologist at the consulting company Monarch Weather & Climate Intelligence.

Frustrated by unreliable traditional forecasts, he built a site that integrates real-time weather trends with crowdsourced ground observations. To further refine the site’s predictions, Explore Fall is releasing an app this year that allows users to upload live foliage reports directly from the field. Another interactive fall foliage map comes from the Smoky Mountains’ tourism site.

It leverages historical weather data and current forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reported Lyndsey Matthews for Afar. Need to know: Why do the leaves change color? The shorter days and cooler temperatures trigger deciduous trees to stop producing chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves that helps plants carry out photosynthesis.

Any remaining chlorophyll breaks down, revealing yellow and orange pigments that were already in the leaves. Red comes from sugars getting trapped in leaves and producing new pigments. New England and upstate New York have some of the best potential for beautiful fall colors this year, since the region experienced wet weather in late spring and early summer and then a drier spell, according to AccuWeather’s Brian Lada.

There, fall foliage should peak in early October. Later in the month, Northern California’s Sierra Nevada should also provide good viewing opportunities, since the area didn’t experience major drought or wildfires this year, per the outlet. Meanwhile, leaves in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are expected to reach maximum autumn hues around mid-October.