Tuesday is the beginning of meteorological fall, even though the weather is far from autumnal.
Meteorological seasons are used for consistent record-keeping (as opposed to the fluid dates of equinoxes and solstices). They also tend to be sharp cutoffs to average rises and falls in temperatures.
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For instance, the average high and low temperatures drop by 30 degrees from September 1 through November 30.
By that definition, the meteorological summer of 2026 was the fourth-hottest on record in both Raleigh and in Fayetteville.
It's also been one of the most humid on record.
Our trees are stressing out!
The heat, along with inconsistent rain over the summer, has put our area in a less-than-favorable position for fall foliage.
How do we know that?
Explore Fall is a website that's become choc full of great information for leaf peepers all over the country!
WRAL has written about Explore Fall and its North Carolina ties in the past.
Monday, it issued its Fall Foliage Stress map.
The map shows our immediate area is under high stress. However, the mountains are under low stress!
If you're like me and have a trip planned in October to the mountains, you may be in luck! In fact, meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner was telling me that things were looking lush and green in the mountains this past weekend.
We're still quite a ways out, however, from when we expect peak fall foliage around here.
That doesn't come until mid-to-late November, but it happens about a month earlier than that in the higher elevations.
Could this outlook change?
This outlook could become more optimistic, but things would have to change quickly.
You may notice some leaves changing color already. That's not a good thing. That's a sign of the early stress they're under.
The best weather for great foliage includes rain (but not too much), along with warm, sunny days and cool, crisp nights.
Think back to elementary school. Remember that big word, photosynthesis?
Plants thrive off of carbon dioxide, water and sunlight and convert that into sugar and oxygen. That's all done through photosynthesis.
As sunlight decreases, the chlorophyll production does too. This means that green pigment gives way to shades of yellow, orange, red, brown and purple.
We'll lose daylight, as we do every year this time. In the month of September, alone, we lose an average of two minutes, ten seconds of daylight per day.
We just need to quickly transition out of this exceptionally hot and humid pattern to one that's cooler and less humid with beneficial rain.