Central New York Fall Foliage is Dull and Depressing This Year

One of the best parts of fall, the changing leaves, has been a big disappointment in Central New York this year. But why??

Whether you love fall or hate it, seeing all the leaves change from those greens to bright yellows and oranges, to that fiery red, and all the other shades and hues is just a breath-taking sight... Especially for us in Central New York.

We really are spoiled with the fall foliage in our area, even on a "bad" year...

Well, except this year.

This year has just been awful when it comes to the changing colors. I'm sure you've noticed it, too. Maybe there's one tree on your block or in your area, that turned orange, but that's about it - Am I right?? Look out the window at the trees now - There's still a LOT of green leaves, isn't there? And some trees have lost a bunch, if not most, of their leaves, and they're STILL green. What's that all about??

Actually, there's a scientific reason behind the crappy colors. And you probably can guess what it has to do with... The weather.

I was a little off on this, I figured it had to do with our very hot summer, but that's not the (exact) culprit. Thanks to the good people at Syracuse.com, we have an answer to this lackluster fall foliage. Syracuse.com talked to Botany Professor Dan Leopold about the fall foliage, and even he agreed the colors are "drab and disappointing."

According to Syracuse.com, there are a few reasons for the terrible colors. First of all, the warm weather in September and the beginning of fall. Our weather was warmer than the average temperature for this time of the year. Then, the weather turned a little cooler, but not cold. Syracuse.com says we didn't have that cold snap that persuades the leaves to change. The last piece of this triple-threat was the lack of sunshine.

Because of those three situations above, our leaves haven't really changed. Most of the leaves falling to the ground are green. And those who have turned, didn't change much - There's some yellow, barely any orange, and I don't know about you, but I don't think I've seen any red this year.

I feel like I've taken for granted all the beautiful fall foliage we get to experience in Central New York. Just last year I wrote an article about last year's fall colors being a disappointment (which they weren't the greatest, but they were still actually great). Now, I want to take that back. This year was nothing compared to last year... Like, literally.

Let's hope this isn't a trend that will continue. Hopefully next year we don't have the weather triple-threat that we had this year that ruined the fall foliage. Good thing we have almost a full year before we really have to think about it again.