Falling temperatures bring out trees’ colors

Fall colors will be in their full glory over the next several weeks, with a mixture of red, purple, orange and especially yellow leaves dotting the landscape.

In the spring and summer, the green leaves serve as food factories for the tree’s growth. The chemical chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight and uses it to transform carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, like sugars and starch. Chlorophyll also gives the leaf its green color.

As fall advances, changes in daylight hours and temperature cause the leaves to stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down and the leaf’s green color disappears. The other colors – red, orange and yellow pigments – in the leaf become visible, making for spectacular displays. Sugar maples and birch trees often show the most array of color at this time of year.

Although the Inland Northwest’ fall foliage can provide some breathtaking views, the colors in the Northeast are some of the most amazing I’ve witnessed. My wife, Sally, and I lived in Vermont for eight years and we were lucky enough to see the brilliant display of colors of the hillsides every fall. If you want to take a vacation in the fall, I would certainly recommend a trip to Vermont.

The next several weeks will be prime time for local leaf-peeping. Recent rains have literally cleaned-out the air and it seems that many of the trees are near or at peak color.

The weather this weekend should be dry with milder temperatures following some unusually chilly weather. The next round of showers and cooler temperatures are expected to arrive toward the middle to the end of next week.

Conditions in the Gulf of Alaska and the Sea of Japan are becoming more unstable, which often leads to more storms moving across our region.

It still looks like the first half of winter will be colder and snowier than average. The first measurable snowfall in the lowlands should occur near Veterans Day, sometime during the full moon cycle of Nov. 11 through 18.