Warm weather, sunshine delaying fall foliage show

CANTERBURY, N.H. – Plenty of rain early this summer followed by continued warm weather and sunshine fooled many trees in northern New England, delaying the traditional Columbus Day weekend peak of the fall foliage season.

Leaves change colors mainly in response to how much sunlight trees get, so all the sun recently has made it seem earlier in the season than it is.

Elsewhere in the Northeast, unusually dry conditions in parts of New York state are producing muted colors, or causing leaves to dry up and drop without changing.

Neither change has kept visitors from flooding into the region for one of its biggest tourism draws.

“I’m still seeing the tour buses with New York license plates coming through here,” said Phil West, who was cleaning the dirt from a pile of just-picked pumpkins from his farm in Hadley, Mass., on Thursday.

Leaf peepers, even those from far away, weren’t complaining about being out in shirt sleeves and sunglasses.

“I mean, England autumns are terrible. They’re rubbish,” said Andrew Farmer, 25, of Cambridge, England, who wore a T-shirt as he snapped photos this week in Canterbury, where temperatures neared 80 degrees and only the tips of the sugar maples were showing red.

Areas along the Canadian border are at or near peak, but across the region, it’s taking a week to a month longer for trees to hit the height of their autumn pinks, purples, reds and golds.

“It has been warmer then average over the last few weeks and that has pushed the change in colors back a bit,” said Brendon Hoch, a Plymouth State University meteorologist. As long as the sun keeps shining, trees will continue producing chlorophyll, the chemical that keeps leaves green.

Bill and Noreen Sakamoto of Orange, Calif., also were checking out the leaves in Canterbury.

“We came here for the color but it’s hard to time it,” he said. “It’s like going fishing – sometimes it’s not in season or the fish doesn’t come in.”

Largely because people book foliage trips months in advance, tourism officials from Maine to Massachusetts downplay “doom and gloom” scenarios for multibillion-dollar foliage season. More than 550,000 tourists were expected to visit New Hampshire this weekend.

“I think we as residents are a little discerning and particular about our foliage,” said Susan Roy, head of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce in central Vermont.

Foliage Web sites

Maine: http:///www.mainefoliage.com

Massachusetts: http:///www.massvacation.com

New Hampshire: http:///foliage.visitnh.gov (Hotline: 800-258-3608)

Vermont: http:///www.travel-vermont.com/seasons/report.asp