Time to start planning that fall trip! Whether you're checking out a corn maze, apple orchard, or pumpkin patch, everything is more fun when done against a backdrop of gorgeous fall foliage. If leaf-peeping's on your list of favorite fall activities, you're going to flip for SmokyMountains.com's fall foliage prediction map, which pinpoints when leaves are expected to change in your area.
The tool is interactive: Just adjust the bar at the bottom to the month of your choice and watch as yellow, orange, and red washes over the country.
LEARN MORE SEE FALL PHOTOS PLAN FALL ACTIVITIES
There's no way to know with absolute certainty the best time to catch colorful foliage, but this map does use an algorithm of several million data points (including National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's historical and forecast temperatures and precipitation, as well as historical leaf peak trends and peak observation trends) to generate about 50,000 predictive data pieces.
All this data helps create a forecast that can help travelers see what's believed to be peak fall.
"The map is used primarily for planning travel and entertainment," David Angotti at SmokyMountains.com tells CountryLiving.com. "In addition, it is very popular with photographers hoping to capture the brilliance of autumn at peak. Last year, there was a bride that was planning a wedding at the last minute. She used the map to plan an outdoor, mountaintop wedding at the exact moment leaves were at maximum color."
Types of Fall Leaves
Birch Leaf
Maple Leaf
Elm Leaf
Oak Leaf
And there's a new feature this year. "After having dozens of conversations with our fall foliage map users, I realized the data-driven predictive process seems magical to the average layperson," says Wes Melton, co-founder and CTO of SmokyMountains.com and the creator of the map.
"This year, I decided to make a secondary interactive graphic with regional and state data related to temperature variations," he continues. "The temperature data supplied by the NOAA is one of the most important factors and now leaf map users can easily visualize the impact of regional precipitation on peak fall dates."
Happy leaf-peeping!
(h/t: SmokyMountains.com)
