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Here's Your 2017 Guide To Fall Foliage In NYC
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 2, 2017
Modified Oct 2, 2017
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Photo by Navid Baratay/Gothamist
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 2, 2017
Modified Oct 2, 2017
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(via ILoveNY.com)
It's officially autumn, which means it's time for some motherfreaking FALL FOLIAGE. Few things in this world are more beautiful than the welcome embrace of leaf death, and though we're still a few weeks out from peak season, colors will start coming out soon enough. According to ILoveNY.com's Fall Foliage Report (and our eyes) the leaves are still mostly green in these parts, but parts of the Adirondacks are hitting their peak and colors are popping up just west of the Hudson Valley, so soon our time will come.
While some trees in the city are already ON IT, you may notice, it might still be a while before we start seeing any violent reds and oranges. Leaves change later in NYC because of the urban heat island effect. The city has fewer trees and more pavement than in our surrounding rural areas, so it can be significantly warmer here than in the suburbs. The warmer the temperatures, the longer it takes the leaves to turn—plus it's still 80 freaking degrees out, so we may be in for the long slog.
The Weather Channel has some nifty fall foliage tracker maps if you'd like to keep track of the colors, plus the New York Botanical Garden has a "Fall Color Cam" you can watch if you have infinite time and patience:
The bad news is, in the city, the whole leaf-changing season could be condensed if it doesn't cool down at night over the next couple of weeks. "The colors will really start to turn when you get the nighttime temperatures to drop," Deanna Curtis, Curator of Woody Plants at the NY Botanical Garden, told Gothamist. "When we start getting cold nights, and if we have sunny days and cold nights, that's when you're going to get the best colors."
Curtis noted that the city's peak season is usually early to mid November. "So we still have time," she said. "Don't lose hope. Summer has to end." Pray for a dry fall, since a rainy one could mute the colors.
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autumn
fall foliage
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Rebecca Fishbein
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