Best times to see fall colors across the Carolinas, and Hurricane Helene’s impact on this upcoming season

NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — We can’t say it enough. Western Carolina is back open for business, and that includes the famous Blue Ridge Parkway.

Hurricane Helene’s Impact on Fall Colors

There is a lot of excitement heading into this season for our friends in the western Carolinas, considering last season’s fall tourism was interrupted by Hurricane Helene. The western Carolinas are by far one of the best locations to view the peak fall colors across the Tar Heel State. 

This will be an excellent fall season to view the fall colors in the mountains. Even though there is still some deforestation following Helene.

The North Carolina Forest Service did an aerial forestland damage assessment following Helene. An estimated 822,000 acres of timberland received some level of damage during the storm, which resulted in an estimated 214,000,000 of timber damage on all North Carolina forest lands.

Here was the breakdown from the November 2024 report:

• 78% private (private individuals, corporations, and other ownerships)
• 21% public (US Forest Service and other public ownerships)
• 1% reserved lands (reserved areas such as park lands)

According to the ‘Fall Color Guy’ and App State Biology Professor Dr. Howard Neufeld, Helene may impact some parts of the mountains, including tree loss.  

The storm was pretty unique in that it would take down trees on one side of the hill and leave trees on the other side standing…. If you are looking out from an overlook onto a landscape. I think the difference is instead of seeing just a sea of color everywhere, you are going to see patches of color interspersed with patches of gray and brown where the trees were knocked down,” said Dr. Neufeld.

The Science of Fall Colors

The incredible fall colors result from the breakdown of chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves that helps trap sunlight. This creates food for the plants and trees during the growing season.

Whenever the days start to get shorter and we get less direct sunlight. Chlorophyll starts to break down, allowing the other colors in the leaves to become visible. Like yellows and oranges.

The weather plays a big role in what the fall colors will look like each season. Obviously, we love those vibrant reds and orange colors, which paint the trees with plenty of beauty and add to the scenic views across our region. However, some weather patterns can lead to duller and muted colors.

Warmer temperatures can postpone the decaying of chlorophyll and delay the fall color season. More droughts, heatwaves, and heavy rainfall events can lead to tree stress. You do not want any stress in trees during the late summer and early fall months because that can cause the leaves on the trees to drop before peak color.

What To Expect This Fall

This season will be a little tricky with predicting the fall colors because we started out the season perfectly. Late August and early September brought us cool nights and sunny days. Mid to late September has changed the script, though. The heat has returned to the forecast.  

Nevertheless, we are not in a major drought, and this heat is not going to be consistent enough to derail the fall color season. The peak colors should be close to on time, if not slightly delayed, this fall season.

Peak Color Predictions For This Fall

LATE SEPTEMBER:

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the highest elevations will start to experience peak color in late September and early October. This includes spots like Mount Mitchell, Grandfather Mountain, and Newland.

The map above from Dr. Howard Neufeld and Dr. Michael Denslow shows the elevation differences well on when we can experience some of the best colors this fall.

“If you look at the mountains, colors start like a wave at the very highest elevation and every week you can watch that color move downslope.”, said Dr. Howard Neufeld.

MID-OCTOBER:

Lower elevations in the mountains will start to experience peak color around mid to late October. This includes locations like Boone, Banner Elk, and Jefferson.

LATE OCTOBER to EARLY NOVEMBER:

The Piedmont and Sandhills start to get into peak colors towards late October and even early November. This would include all of the Charlotte metro.  

Spots like Morganton, Hickory, and Lenoir also fall in this timeframe. Locations east of Charlotte, like Monroe, Wadesboro, and Rockingham, also experience peak fall colors in late October and early November. Same with friends in South Carolina, including Rock Hill, Lancaster, Cheraw, and Chesterfield.

The coastal regions can experience peak fall colors from mid to late November.

“As I like to tell people, we have the longest fall color season of anywhere in the country.”, said Dr. Howard Neufeld.