With peak fall color just around the corner, we’re breaking down what to expect this leaf-peeping season across north Georgia.

Autumn 2023 started off on a warm note, WSB Radio Meteorologist Christina Edwards says, with daytime temperatures that continued to climb into the low to mid 80s throughout early October.

However, as temperatures start to cool, fall colors will start to pop.

Experts with the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) say that in northeast Georgia, “roadside viewing is still better than the overviews at this time.”

The GFC confirms that as of Oct. 11, “understory species like red maple, dogwood, and sourwood are exhibiting the majority of the color” throughout the region. “These species have reached about 40% of their potential,” the GFC explains, adding, “River corridors are showing color change in birches, sycamore, and poplar, with these colors being dull to bright yellow.”

GFC experts predict that for higher elevations, we can expect fall colors to peak throughout the last week of October and the first two weeks of November. They add that next week, beginning Oct. 16, “peak season viewing” should begin across northeast Georgia.

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Autumn Leaf Watch: When will fall foliage peak? Red sourwoods in Murray County (Georgia Forestry Commission)

Throughout north central Georgia, the GFC reports there has not yet been a significant change in the overall fall color development. “The river corridors are displaying dull yellow to bright yellow hues from species such as yellow-poplar, black walnut, black birch, and sycamore,” GFC experts explain. “Understory species such as dogwood, sourwood, sumac, and red maple are really beginning to offer some great orange and red fall foliage across the landscape.”

>> More on Leaf Watch 2023

Over the next few weeks, as temperatures cool, the fall foliage across north central Georgia’s upper elevations “should rapidly begin transforming the mountainsides,” the GFC adds.

“Another excellent leaf-viewing season is anticipated this year,” GFC experts confirm. “Next week into the following weekend fall colors will begin illuminating the north Georgia landscape.”

>> Almanac’s 2023 Fall Foliage Color Map

Key dates for ‘peak fall color’ according to The Farmers’ Almanac:

Georgia: Oct. 19-Nov. 4

Alabama: Oct. 19-Nov. 4

North Carolina: (Inland) Oct. 12-28; (Coastal) Oct. 19-Nov. 4

South Carolina: Oct. 19-Nov. 4

Tennessee: Oct. 12-28

And WSB Radio’s Ashley Frasca points out that while looking up at the colorful trees this fall, you can’t forget to look down too: “There are some cool, reproductive structures that make folks wonder, ‘where are these coming from?’” Read more from Ashley Frasca, host of Green and Growing on WSB Radio, on some “fun fall identification”.

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