Here’s Your Eye-Popping, Leaf-Peeping Fall Foliage Forecast

ABC News (NEW YORK) — Fall 2014 begins Monday at 10:29 p.m. EDT, and here’s your leaf-peeping forecast. With less daylight and cooler nights, trees begin to change color.

By late September and early October, areas in the United States that see leaves change color are mostly in the northern Great Lakes near the Canadian border, northern New England and in the higher elevations of the Rockies and northern Appalachian Mountains.

By the middle of October, the colorful carpet of leaves begins to slide further south into most of the Midwest, lower elevations of the West and all the way along the southern Appalachians in the East. Major cities that see peak color at this time are Denver and Chicago.

By late October, fall colors slide even further south and ocean-moderated cities that are on the coast in the Northeast such as Portland and Boston begin to see colors peak. Also, the Mid-Mississippi Valley around St. Louis and Kansas City begin to experience colors peak.

In the West, lower elevations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains begin to see color, just outside of Sacramento, California, and up into the Pacific Northwest, Cascade Mountains from Portland to Seattle.

Finally, by Halloween and into early November, leaves peak from New York City to the Carolinas and into Atlanta. Trees in the Southern Plains around Dallas will be getting close to their peak colors as well.

Trees along the Gulf Coast, Florida and coastal California don’t really change color because the majority of them are palm trees. There is a small percentage of deciduous trees that do grow in such tropical areas and can change color throughout winter time, but the majority stay green.

If you are wondering what the forecast is for autumn 2014, here is the official NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and CPC (Climate Predictions Center) forecast.

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Warmer and drier-than-normal weather will continue for the entire West Coast including cities such as Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Also, milder-than-normal conditions are possible for most of the Midwest, the Great Lakes from Chicago to Cleveland and the East Coast from NYC to Miami.

Wetter and cool-than-normal conditions will continue for the parts of the Southwest and into Texas. Also, Florida could see a wetter-than-normal fall season.

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