Leaves ready for fall transformation

Like a fruit not quite ripe, most of Central Virginia’s fall foliage remains in a late-summer shade of green with autumnal reds and golds several weeks in the future, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry.

Foresters expect fall colors to sweep across the commonwealth around Oct. 20, starting in western Virginia and ending in the Tidewater area around Nov. 15. Local peak periods are predicted between Oct. 27 and Nov. 10.

“We’ve got the spray painters out now trying to get the colors going, but we’ve run out of orange,” joked Richard Lewis of the Virginia Tourism Corp. “Seriously, most of the colors will start coming out in a few weeks.”

Lewis said Central Virginia is a prime location for primo leaf watching.

“Charlottesville is in a great position because of its proximity to the interstate system. It’s in wine country with a lot of festivals planned and it’s so close to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park,” he said. “You can just go over Afton Mountain and get on the Blue Ridge Parkway and find beautiful colors.”

Whether the colors will be brilliant, vivid and vibrant or merely rich, divergent and colorful depends on a region’s summer rainfall and early autumn temperature ranges, officials say. Local leafers may find a shorter peak period and more contrasting reds and golds than shimmering oranges and yellows due to a dry summer.

“Generally, if you have dry conditions in the summer, trees will tend to whither and go from green to red to brown. If the weather is wetter, we see more colors,” said Gregg O’Donnell, of the state forestry department. “I think we’ll see brilliant colors, but for shorter periods than we saw last year.”

Color changes in leaves are stimulated by shorter days and longer, cooler nights. Chlorophyll leaves the leaves, leaving chemicals called carotenoids. That process changes leaves from green to red or brown. Warm days, cool nights and moist soil trap sugars within the leaves, which result in brighter, more vivid colors.

In Central Virginia, which had a dry spell between June and August, trees will likely change colors at different times, leaving greater contrasts between oaks, maples and poplars as some varieties will be red or brown while others are turning yellow.

“It will be beautiful. I just don’t know how long of a peak period we’ll have for the colors,” O’Donnell said.

Fall foliage is a big tourism draw for the state. According to AAA, Virginia pulls in about 9 percent of all Americans who tour for fall colors. Combined with the University of Virginia football team and various winery festivals, the leaves make the fall prime time for local tourism, according to local officials.

“October, historically, is one of our best months,” said Allie Baer, of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We’ve had a good fall so far and our poll of lodging partners shows that we’re looking at 80 percent or more booking rates through the end of the month.”

The fall season is such a big deal that several agencies have devoted a galaxy of cyber space to it — from Web pages to blogs.

The forestry department supports http://www.dof.virginia.gov/fall, including a blog at http://fallcolorva.blogspot.com, to which officials hope leaf peepers will post. The tourism corporation hosts http://www.virginia.org/fall.

“It’s important enough that we dedicate a whole Web site strictly to fall travel,” Lewis said. “It’s an excellent planning tool for people who are looking to do day trips or weekend getaways.”

The sites feature a forestry employee nicknamed “Forester Tim” who records updated color reports. They also feature computer graphics depicting areas where colors are pre-peak, at the pinnacle or post-prime.

“We hope people will post to the blog and find the recommended scenic tour routes useful,” O’Donnell said. “Fall’s a beautiful season in Virginia and we want people to enjoy it.”