The Annual Fall Foliage Map

I've caught my first sighting of the Smoky Mountain Fall Foliage Map, the traditional sign that summer is finally slipping into autumn. Every year Smoky Mountain releases their interactive Fall Foliage Map, which plots the annual progress of when leaves change their colors across the United States.

The 2019 Fall Foliage Map has now arrived. According to the map some parts in the north will be seeing a change in leaf color in the next two weeks. The Fall Foliage Map uses historical weather records from all 48 continental states to predict the arrival of fall at the county level across the contiguous United States. The map includes a date control which allows you to view the leaf color you can expect for any date from the beginning of September to the end of November.

The map is accompanied by a chart which shows the average US temperature since 1990. It is also accompanied by an explanation of why leaves change color in the Fall and why leaves actually do fall from the trees in Autumn.