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This Is When Fall Foliage Is Expected To Peak In NYC

Every autumn, New Yorkers anxiously await the changing of the leaves with a PSL in hand. And though I Love NY‘s annual Fall Foliage Report isn’t set to return until September, we can already predict when to expect peak foliage to hit NYC!

Based on previous years of reports, experts can draw conclusions on the typical time leaves begin to turn into the most gorgeous shades of orange, yellow and red. For NYC, fall foliage is expected to peak this year by mid-November.

Colors typically tend to appear much sooner in Upstate New York. Areas in the Adirondack and Catskill mountains see color changes as early as the beginning of September.

According to I Love NY, peak foliage lasts for about three to four days. Therefore, it’s very important to stay up to date on the current stage of foliage in autumn so you don’t miss the beautiful spectacle.

Central Park Autumn in midtown Manhattan New York City
Shutterstock / Songquan Deng

Now, have you wondered how or why these beautiful colors start to appear come autumn? As we know, leaves continuously produce chlorophyll, giving them their green color. Although, once it’s fall, leaves produce chlorophyll much slower as nights lengthen. Eventually chlorophyll production stops entirely. This results in a color change that is actually showing the leaves’ carotenoids and anthocyanin, explains the US Department of Agriculture.

However, this season’s foliage is expected to be less vibrant than year’s past due to quite a rainy summer. Autumn colors are very dependent on weather patterns and with recent heat waves, heavy rainfalls, and Canada’s wildfires, we can most likely expect more muted colors.

But muted colors or not it’s still sure to be a beautiful sight and time of the year. Fall is an especially exciting time for NYC with the Halloween Parade’s return, pumpkin patches, apple picking and more!

The post This Is When Fall Foliage Is Expected To Peak In NYC appeared first on Secret NYC.

* This article was originally published here