UnbeLEAFabley pretty: Fall foliage set to peak next week
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The leaves are beginning to change in Washington County, where locals can expect the most vibrant fall scenes between now and Wednesday. Parts of Fayette and Greene counties have already peaked, but oak forests will be prettiest around Oct. 27.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Morning commutes will be a little more colorful in the week ahead, when the leaves are expected to be most vibrant.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
It’s a little later than normal, but next week, the colors of fall are expected to be most vibrant. If you’re planning a fall photo shoot of any kind, Wednesday should be the most colorful day of fall this year.
It’s finally starting to feel like fall, and this week, Southwestern Pennsylvania will be dressed in the colors of autumn, too.
Across the state, forests and groves are reaching fall foliage peaks, and trees in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties will be most vibrant now through next Wednesday.
“We had that really unseasonably warm period throughout the first half of October. I think that stalled a lot of fall color across the state,” said Ryan Reed, Natural Resources Program Specialist at the Department of Natural Resource Bureau of Forestry.
Reed said later peak dates is a trend he’s noticed since he began recording fall foliage in 2017. For years, he followed fall color trends, and said wet or humid weather leading into fall can delay the transformation of forests from green to brilliant shades of sunset.
“When you have a warm and humid fall, which is right in the lead-up to fall foliage season, it can have a negative impact on fall color.”
Reed recalled how heavy rains in 2017 led to a “lackluster” foliage display, but said this year, heavy rains followed by long, dry periods gave tree canopies time to recover.
The 2021 fall foliage show should be beautiful, with trees turning last week and all the colors of fall on brilliant display this coming week.
Reed said Southwestern Pennsylvania can expect peak fall foliage somewhere around Oct. 27.
“I think it’s important for all people in Pennsylvania to realize just how valuable our forests are,” said Reed, who encourages everyone who is able to visit a state forest or find a spot to take in the changing leaves. “Forests … provide us clean air and clean water, these beautiful sights during fall.”
But if you can’t plan a fall foliage tour in the next few days, no worries.
“Any time you’re in that three-week window, a lead-up to peak color, then you have a week of peak conditions,” followed by a week of fading yellows, oranges and reds, “you’re going to find some really nice colors somewhere.”