Final New England Fall Foliage Report of 2014

With November’s arrival, we have reached the final New England Fall Foliage Report of 2014 at Yankee Magazine.  With the exception of downtown Boston proper, and the far southwestern corner of Connecticut, the fall colors have either faded or fallen around New England.  After the rush of autumn activity, the fairgrounds are shuttered, the orchards are all picked, and the tourists have returned to their corners of the globe.  It’s a quiet time in New England, and one of preparation for the season ahead.

The trees around our property had only been bare a few days when the snowflakes began to fall this weekend.  It seemed especially fitting this year, as the transition into autumn across most of New England felt equally early and abrupt.  But what a beautiful year it was!

In our first forecast way back in August, we were optimistic that a supportive lead up to fall could provide a strong foliage year.  When September featured day after day of blue skies, warm days and cool nights, Northern New England was treated to one of its best color years in recent memory.

For many of the same reasons why the colors were bright this year though, they we’re incredibly short lived.  Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the Northcountry of New Hampshire and the Mountains of Western Maine all peaked in late September, and much of the strong early color had faded by the first weekend in October.  Fortunately, the wave of peak moved south quickly, and amazingly bright colors soon arrived down the spine of the Green Mountains and into the Berkshires, across the White Mountains and across and up to Baxter in Maine.

It was then that the pattern switched on us though, and the atmosphere became energized.  A string of storms began hammering the region, decreasing both sunshine and consistent cool air.  Bright colors continued to emerge in Southern New England, but often not all at once.  And often, soon after some colors came on, a storm would remove them.  Southern and especially coastal areas this year had a long, colorful season, but not always a true peak.  The red maples turned early, the oaks late, and the sugar maples, birches and beeches all in between.

To sum things up, it’s always amazing just how much variation in season and climate there can be across this relatively small region.  The season spanned close to two months, and the farther north, further inland, and higher elevation you were, the better year you had.  In many places, the colors were just incredible, and most others had a good year.  In just a few places though, where the storms had a great impact, we’ll be left waiting another year for classic fall foliage.

Now into November, only Downtown Boston awaits peak foliage. Everywhere else across the region, the remaining colors are all rusts and golds.  It’s still a beautiful time of year to spend outside in New England, as the oaks, beeches and tamaracks all hold late color in an otherwise sparse canopy.

As the season winds down, we continue to invite foliage fans to share their favorite images of the season with us at Yankee Magazine, either on our Facebook page, or by entering our Fall Photo Contest.  We also hope you follow our regular blogs at YankeeMagazine.com, where I’ll continue to contribute posts to the Explore New England blog through the winter and spring.  I will also continue to share my images of New England on my website at JimSalge.com.

Thanks for following along with us as we explored New England’s most colorful season. We’ll be back next August!