Giving Thanks and Looking Back at 2014

Autumn 2014 didn’t live up to its predictions.

Back in August, when leaves first began to turn, some forecast that California’s third year of drought would diminish the show of fall color.

Instead, as Jared Smith’s photograph of Lake Sabrina shows, it was spectacular.

Here’s how autumn shaped up:

• CaliforniaFallColor.com’s first “fall color report” was published on August 13, a week later than in 2013.
• Our first GO NOW! alert was reported on September 17, also a week later.
• Our first Peak was reported on Sept. 23, five days later than last year.  That first peak coincided with the first day of autumn (Autumnal Equinox).

So, 2014 was not the earliest of shows, but it defied early critics and became remarkable for its long-lasting and breathtaking color.  If the third year of record drought in California had any effect, it was to stress trees in specific and limited areas, resulting in drier leaves that dropped more quickly, but that was an exception.

The drought’s dry weather continued through autumn, meaning that California had mostly clear, sunny days and cold nights, with little wind or precipitation.  Those were ideal conditions for development of great fall color.

Look back through our archives and you’ll see why CaliforniaFallColor.com claims California to have the longest-lasting, most diverse and most spectacular autumn in America. No other area of the country compares.

The photographs submitted by amateur and professional photographers support that claim.  If you happen to like a particular photograph you’ve seen on this website, look for the photographer’s link at left or Google them.  Many sell their photographs.

Today, although autumn continues until Dec. 21, CaliforniaFallColor.com pulls back its reporting. We stop sending weekly updates and photographs to California meteorologists, travel and outdoor writers, because we’ve learned, over the years, that even though autumn continues for several more weeks, public interest in autumn wanes after Thanksgiving Day.

Nevertheless, if you happen to see some beautiful fall color, send a photo to us at editor(at)californiafallcolor.com or post it on our FB page.

There is still a lot of beautiful fall color to be seen in San Francisco, down the San Francisco Peninsula, in the South and East Bay, in California’s vineyards, in the historic mining towns of the Gold Country, in the Central Valley, throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, and in the Deserts.

Fall color will continue to warm the landscape and our hearts well into December.