This summer’s drought is expected to cause a patchy array of fall color in the leaf-peeping haven of New England.
A tree with yellow and brown leaves, center, stands near a statue Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, in Concord, Mass. This summer's drought is expected to cause a patchy array of fall color in the leaf-peeping haven of New England. Experts predict that it will be more spread out this year with some trees changing earlier or even browning and dropping leaves because of the drought.
“We will still have brilliant colors in New England because of the fact that we have so many different kinds of trees and they’re growing on kind of ridges, and kind of slopes and wetlands,” said Richard Primack, a professor of plant ecology at Boston University. “You know we will have good color but the color will probably be more spotty than usual.”
“Typically we get so many inquiries for last-minute stays through that period that I don’t even really start thinking about it until this week and next week,” she said.Severe and even extreme drought set in this summer in southern New England and remains in some areas, while up north parts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are in a moderate drought or are abnormally dry.
“It's going to have a very serious impact on fall colors in the sense that most of the beeches, many of them throughout southern New England, were hit so badly by beech leaf disease this year that they’re just dropping, they don’t have leaves on them to change color,” he said.