California Fall Color Map (10/3/18)

There is no machine-driven method of automatically mapping fall color across California. The California Fall Color Map (at right on Navigation bar) is updated manually when reports are received, verified and time allows.

Once weekly (or immediately if a significant change is confirmed), reports are consolidated and the map is updated by changing a location’s leaf color. A report in one area can trigger changes to surrounding areas at the same elevation.

The map is a visual guide to how autumn color is changing, though it may not be precise for a given day or time, because conditions may have changed there since the map was last updated.

Above, you see the map as updated today (click to enlarge). Those areas with Just Starting color are either in that range or an update has not been received to change a leaf’s color.

Bishop Creek Canyon (10/3/18)

Bishop Creek Canyon (at left) is one area that gets lots of reports, so its map is precise to a few hundred feet, when updated. The accuracy of the map depends on reports from people across California.

When an area is transitioning from Peak to Past Peak, we are cautious to not declare an area as Past Peak until most of the color has fallen, as there’s still beauty to be seen. This is a subjective decision, but one that over time has proven to be prudent.

However, please note that once a brown Past Peak leaf has been placed in a given area, other peaking locations near the same elevation are likely to become Past Peak momentarily. So, haste is needed to see peak color there.

Dated photographs confirm reports. So, if you’d like to contribute to the map, include a photo and date of when the color was seen and email your report to editor@californiafallcolor.com

We received word this week that, in response to California Fall Color’s concern the fall color map posted at Weather.com showed too few regions to be helpful, The Weather Channel is doubling the number of regions shown on its map.

Data on The Weather Channel map is supplied by hundreds of stringers throughout the United States. Similar to the California Fall Color Map, The Weather Channel map is updated weekly, as reports are received.

Through these tools, color spotters, photographers and leaf peepers gain a clearer understanding of where it’s peaking locally and nationally. 

Chlorophyll Molecule (Wikipedia)

Leaves on deciduous trees change color in autumn from green to various hues of lime, yellow, gold, orange, red and brown because of a combination of shorter days and colder temperatures.

Throughout spring and summer, green chlorophyll (which allows trees to absorb sunlight and produce nutrients) is made and replaced constantly.

However, as days grow shorter, “cells near the juncture of the leaf and stem divide rapidly but do not expand,” reports Accuweather.com. “This action of the cells form a layer called the abscission layer.

“The abscission layer blocks the transportation of materials from the leaf to the branch and from the roots to the leaves. As Chlorophyll is blocked from the leaves, it disappears completely from them.”

That’s when vivid yellow xanthophylls, orange carotenoids and, due to a different process, red and purple anthocyanins emerge.

Orange is found in leaves with lots of beta-carotene, a compound that absorbs blue and green light and reflects yellow and red light, giving the leaves their orange color.

Yellow comes from Xanthophylls and Flavonols that reflect yellow light. Xanthophylls are compounds and Flavonols are proteins.  They’re what give egg yolks their color.

Though always present in the leaves, Carotenoids and Xanthophylls are not visible until Chlorophyll production slows.

Red comes from the Anthocyanin compound. It protects the leaf in autumn, prolonging its life. Anthocyanins are pigments manufactured from the sugars trapped in the leaf, giving term to the vernacular expression, “the leaves are sugaring up.”

The best fall color occurs when days are warm and nights are clear and cold. California’s cloudless skies and extreme range of elevations (sea level to 14,000′) provide ideal conditions for the development of consistently vivid fall color, as seen in these reports. 

Bigleaf Maple, Spanish Creek (10/14/17) Michael Beatley

Over 100 volunteer “color spotters” (our term for contributors) submit photographs and reports to CaliforniaFallColor.com each autumn.

To be one of them is easy. Email photos within a few days of when they were taken* to editor@californiafallcolor.com. Include the photographer’s name, date the photo was taken and the location where the photo was taken.

Please note: We are unable to compensate photographers for use of their images, but always credit the photographer for his/her work. Many contributors have had their photographs republished leading to broader recognition/exposure, enhanced resumes/reputation, paid compensation from others and/or retail sales, not to mention bragging rights.

Photos should be high resolution**, particularly if you’d like them considered as one of the best photos of the week. The week’s best photos are (with photographer’s permission) sent to major broadcast and print media; they won’t accept any photo less than 300 dpi in size.

Reports should include: % of color change for the location being reported (e.g., North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon) – not for a specific tree or shrub (expressed as: Just Starting, 0-10%; Patchy, 10-50%; Near Peak, 50-75%; Peak, 75-100%;  or Past Peak), the name of the location, roads (e.g., take Rock Creek Rd. east from US 395), date visited and any helpful information (e.g., “The trail is steep for the first 500′. but then levels out for the two mile hike to the lake. A grove of peaking aspen is found at the western side the lake trail.”).

If you know the foliage seen in the photo (particularly if it is unusual or wouldn’t be evident to us), please describe it (e.g., aspen, bigleaf maple, black oak, silver willow, etc.).

We will make every effort to publish your report, particularly if it is from an unusual or lightly reported destination. When multiple photographs are received from heavily visited locations, we are able only to publish the first received, the best or the most unusual.

Occasionally, we will post a portfolio of historic photos, but often only on Friday or when fresh images have not been received. Photos may be cropped or adjusted for best presentation.

CaliforniaFallColor.com’s style is vivid and photojournalistic. Images that tell a story or that show human activity in relation to autumn are best.

Reports and photos can also be posted on CaliforniaFallColor’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Though, emailing photos and reports to editor@californiafallcolor.com is the best way to get them on this site, and the only way to get them considered as one of the Best of the Week.

Thank you and happy wandering! 

* Historic photos, like Michael Beatley’s shot of Spanish Creek (seen above), are published – on occasion – days or even years after they were taken, but only to illustrate an article that is not time-sensitive. Fall color reports only use photos taken during the previous week, in order to present what can be seen at that location.

**A high resolution photo is one that is 300 dpi (dots per inch). A photograph of 1 megabyte or larger is usually large enough to be considered to be high resolution. Please don’t hesitate sending a photograph just because it isn’t 300 dpi. Pictures taken with mobile devices often get included in our reports, when the device has been set to shoot a large picture. 72 dpi images (set for websites and devices) are too small for reproduction in print media.