Winds of Change

Hope Valley (10/7/19) John Poimiroo

High winds are predicted to lash northern California on Oct. 9. The winds are so severe that PG&E, Northern California’s largest power company, anticipates turning off power to 35 counties, affecting 700,000 customers, in order to reduce the threat of power-line-caused wildfires.

Many forests in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades will be affected by the high winds. Here’s a summary* of what’s predicted for fall color areas that at or are near peak :

  • Inyo County (Bishop Creek Canyon) – winds 20 – 30 mph, gusting to 50 mph
  • Mono County (June Lake Loop) – winds 15 -25 mph, gusting to 35 mph.
  • Alpine County (Hope Valley) – winds 10 – 40 mph.
  • Plumas County (southern Shasta Cascade) – winds 10 – 25 mph.
  • Siskiyou County (northern Shasta Cascade) – winds 10 – 25 mph, gusting to 40 mph.

High winds such as these will strip trees that are at peak, but they do not cause green or lightly turned leaves to drop, as the trees’ abscission cells have not yet closed the gap between the leaves and the branch.

Fortunately, we’ve had an unusual autumn in which areas have been peaking incrementally. As seen in the above image, many groves in the High Sierra are a mix of Just Starting to fulling peaking trees.

That means the wind, though it is likely to strip peaking trees of their leaves, will not remove the leaves of trees that are Just Starting or Patchy. They will continue to change color after the wind has passed.

*Source:WillyWeather.comnote: these forecasts are for the entire county and may not occur as reported exactly where color is peaking.

1 reply
  1. Steve Shinn says:

    Surveyor’s Meadow; Oct 8 Tuesday AM very few leaves were on the ground. By 3 PM it was raining yellow in several spots and covered some spots on the ground. The streams were getting colorful.

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