Foliage color levels as of October 10, 2014. (SmokyMountains.com)
SmokyMountains.com has a neat interactive fall foliage color map that tells you where the leaves are turning color — and combines this information with historical data to predict when exactly they'll be turning in your area.
The precise timing of the leaves changing depends on temperature and precipitation trends, so it can vary widely from year to year. Using data on this year’s weather, along with previous’ years trends and how they impacted foliage color, Wes Melton — the creator of the map — built an algorithm that predicts when the leaves will change in every single county in the US for 2014.
The image above shows the current state of things, but click through to the interactive map to find out when you’ll get to see peak foliage in your own country.
It’s also interesting to see the wave of peak fall foliage sweep through the country — starting at high latitudes and in mountainous regions, and gradually moving south — over the course of a little over two months, from early September to mid-November.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it looks a lot like this map of the seasons changing across the US, defined in terms of temperature.
