It's officially that time of year when everyone heads to the mountains to get a glimpse of the color changes among the trees. This weekend's storm system might shake things up for us. When looking at what conditions are optimal for the color change, we asked Dr. Dan West from the Forest Service at Colorado State.
"We need sunny days with cool crisp nights, not cold nights. The cool nights produce the reds and purples we all love so much. We need to avoid snow storms, heavy rain events, and frost to have the best show".
Currently, we are seeing the most amount of color near Vail, Aspen, Leadville, and Telluride. The best places to see the current display will be along highway 24 between Aspen and Vail. There are other places closer to Denver to see these color changes. Driving along I-70 you could see some beautiful oranges and yellows.
As for this weekend, we have a potent low-pressure system moving through. Widespread rain is expected on Saturday, but the main event won't be until later in the evening. This could bring some snow accumulation to the higher peaks. Mountain passes could be difficult to travel this weekend. Between 9,000-10,000 feet we could see more of a wintry mix. This is not the powdery snow that we hope for, and we are expecting more heavy, wet snow.
Gusty winds are also possible all across Colorado, and this will likely last throughout the day. Some could see gusts upwards of 35 miles per hour. Well what does this mean for the fall foliage?
These are not the most ideal conditions for those bright colors that we want to see. The gusty winds could knock some of the leaves off early. This doesn't necessarily mean bad news though. We are expecting to see peak colors next week from this storm system. This could just speed the process up. This upcoming week we are expecting to see peak colors near Estes Park, Leadville, Telluride, Aspen, the Sangres, and parts of I-70.
Overnight lows will also be an instigator to these earlier color changes. It will be dropping close to freezing in the higher terrain overnight. Lows even in the lower elevations could see numbers in the lower 40s.
This upcoming weekend will not be the best time to go leaf peeping. Higher passes will be difficult to travel on due to the wintry mix and heavy rain. Colors aren't expected to peak until after this storm system anyways.
Our First Alert 5 Weather team will be tracking the fall foliage changes each week, and will keep you updated on the best places to visit.
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Ultimate Leaf Peeping Guide: When and where to catch Colorado's peak fall colors
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