An interactive map predicts when leaves will change color across the United States this coming fall.
David Angotti, the map’s creator, designed the website SmokyMountains.com as a way for travelers to find the “perfect mountain cabin,” and added the annual Fall Foliage Map as a tool for making the most of those trips.
Updated every year, the 2023 version of the map is now ready and highlights when the changing leaves will move across the country, which can be seen by dragging the tool over the timeline from September 4th to November 20th.
According to the map, fall foliage on the West Coast should begin by mid-September, before the Midwest sees peak color in October. The East Coast should then peak around early October, while the Southeast will begin to see the same in mid to late October.
Autumn leaves.
Getty
Described as “the ultimate visual guide to planning the annual progressive foliage change,” the map cautions, however, that “no tool can be 100 percent accurate,” adding, “This tool is intended to help travelers better time their trips to have the best chance of catching prime colors every year.”
“After publishing our predictive fall foliage map for nearly a decade, we are confident in our data sources, process and algorithm,” founder Angotti said in a statement to The Washington Post.
In the second to Travel + free time, he added, “Similar to the weekend weather forecast, the timing of our map updates is important. The backbone of the map is meteorology.”
“With our unique blend of historical and forecast data, we are able to make very accurate predictions through the end of August. Drastic changes from year to year dictate that we create a new map from scratch every year with new data,” Angotti continued. “Our ultimate goal is to produce a map that is useful and fun.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education