Weather or Not

It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween out there.

At long last the region’s trees have taken on some of the spectacular yellow and red coloring that the foliage experts had promised.

Yes, this is unusually late for peak foliage, which typically appears by the end of October.

Is this more evidence of global warming? Various studies have documented increases in the growing seasons, with later first frosts and earlier last frosts.

However, tracking changes in something as ambiguous as “peak color” – what exactly is it, and how would you define it – is trickier.

As far we know no one has yet documented any long-term in the autumn color seasons. Besides, light is a bigger factor in setting off he changes than temperature.

In the fall of 1995, trees still were holding onto their leaves at Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving weekend it snowed, and kept snowing until April.