The summer season is coming to an end, and with that comes the beautiful fall colors.
Every year, leaves change color during the fall season. WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said this can be narrowed down to two contributions: the loss of daylight and the temperature change.
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For good fall color, WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said we need three things: decent rain in the spring and summer months, sunny and warm afternoons paired with cooler, crisp nights heading into the fall.
And Wilmoth said we can already check off one of those boxes.
“We’ve had some good rain,” she said. “Once we start transitioning to the cooler months, [is] when we expect to start to see the change.”
Though she said cool and crisp, it does not mean freeze.
“Early freezes are a major bummer to fall color,” she said.
For now, Wilmoth said we will have to wait to see.
The timing of when leaves change colors is expected to be close to normal this year.
When Hurricane Helene hit parts of North Carolina in 2024, Wilmoth said winds from the storm stripped many of the trees and impacted the fall leaf color.
“Helene came in before any of the changing really started, which was horrible for the mountains," Wilmoth said. "They not only had like the main reason people go there in the fall disappear in a couple of days from the storm, but they had a storm that ruined everything.”
With many places along the North Carolina mountains reopening, Wilmoth said that will be the perfect place to see the best fall color.
“Things are starting to open back up, [and] people will likely come out in the amounts that they used to come and see the fall color,” she said.
Where to see the best fall color
Asheville is known for having one of the nation’s longest fall color seasons, and visitors are encouraged in Western North Carolina where local businesses and communities have reopened, including parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
“That’s the best place to go,” Wilmoth said. “That’s where you’ll see the most brilliant color in the Blue Ridge Parkway.”
When the leaves change, from mountains to the coast
As of September, Wilmoth said things are still looking fairly green, but as the fall months continue, the color changes gradually sweep across the state.
She said some color change could possibly be seen as early as October in some of the mountain areas.
In the Triangle, it will be a while.
“We still can have our colors out front, bright red, for the WRAL Tower lighting (in December),” she said.
Wilmoth said colors will peak first near the mountains in the western part of the state. After that, the western parts of the viewing area, including the Triangle, should start to see some color change around the middle and end of October. Eastern counties and towards the coast could peak in late October through early November.
“So they can last for a while,” Wilmoth said.
To track the progression of fall leaf color change, Wilmoth suggests people visit ExploreFall or Appalachain State's Fall Color Map online. People can also share their photos of the vibrant fall colors to pugongyingbo.com/reportit.