Getting Answers: slow start to the fall foliage season

HOLYOKE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Some viewers have sent in questions to our newsroom, concerned about the slow start to the fall foliage season on the heels of a soggy summer.

Western Mass News stopped by Bray Lake on the Mount Tom State Reservation where you could see some of the fall colors already starting to pop on Wednesday. As you head further north and get up in the mountainous areas of Vermont and New Hampshire, some of the leaves have reached peak foliage.

However, First Alert Meteorologist Don Maher said even the leaves of the northern New England states had a slow start, primarily because it was such a wet summer overall, Maher added that what we really need to see is some dry, warm days with cool nights.

“,,,And now that we’re seeing that, granted it’s coming in the month of October now that we’re seeing that now, we should start to see the colors really begin to take off here in western Mass.,” Maher said.

Some of our viewers have reached out to us concerned about the lack of color in western Massachusetts so far this season. Maher explained that if you’re starting to see leaves dry up and turn brown before changing color, that could be a result of the rain since some trees are susceptible to things like fungus.

“A lot of tree’s roots got rotted out, things of that nature, so that could be a factor,” Maher noted.

However, Maher said he wouldn’t rule out this year’s fall foliage just yet, but the rain may explain why this year got off to a slow start and he expects to see the leaves beginning to change here in western Massachusetts in the next week and a half to two weeks.

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