Fall Foliage Is Going to Be Particularly Vibrant This Year, Fellow Harvest Lovers

We've got the details on where to find a scenic drive near you

September 24, 2018 9:00 am EDT

From pumpkin spice trackers to decorative gourd enthusiasts, fall tends to make blubbering, harvest-happy Walt Whitmans of all of us. And that’ll especially be the case this year, following meteorologist predictions that foliage in the Northeast is primed for a particularly vibrant season.  

What’s gotten into New England and the Tri State’s deciduous canopy, you ask? Summer. Weather during the verdant months was abnormally dry, and rainfall this autumn is expected to underwhelm. Leaves with heightened color pigments often arise from weeks of “dry, cool nights,” according to meteorologist Max Vido, and regions that stand to benefit the most include southern New York (the Catskills) and southern New England (Connecticut).

So, how do you make sure to get your fill of all this goldenrod- and cranberry-hued goodness? Head to SmokyMountains.com, where you can find a fall foliage prediction map that breaks down the weekly change in every county of the States from now until November 19, with labels ranging from “No Change” to “Past Peak.”

Your marching orders: use the map to pick a place and a weekend, pack a fleece and a football and find a roadside stall that sells apple cider donuts. Happy days.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Meet your guide

Tanner Garrity

Tanner Garrity

Tanner Garrity is a senior editor at InsideHook, where he’s covered wellness, travel, sports and pop culture since 2017. He also authors The Charge, InsideHook’s weekly wellness newsletter. Beyond the newsroom, he can usually be found running, skating, reading, writing fiction or playing tennis. He lives in Brooklyn.
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