WHEELING, W.Va (WTRF) – Fall is a fan favorite across the Ohio Valley with various festivals, Friday night football and Fall foliage coming into peak colors.
We are about halfway through October and while we are seeing some leaves changing colors, others have stayed green or fallen off all together.
7News Reporter Annalise Murphy teamed up with StormTracker7 Chief Meteorologist Zach Petey Wednesday afternoon to learn more about how temperature and rainfall affects tree leaves changing colors.
This Fall has been seasonable in terms of temperature according to West Virginia State Climatologist, Dr. Kevin Law.
“They’re running pretty close to normal, maybe slightly above normal. We haven’t been anywhere close to the freezing point at least here in our end of the state. The northern part of the state is probably getting a little bit closer.”
Dr. Kevin Law | West Virginia State Climatologist
Despite the seasonable temperatures, the leaves have not changed into those bright yellows, oranges and reds we usually see during the peak of Fall.
Dr. Law says the process of tree leaves changing has a lot to do with the temperature and amount of rain we get leading up to the Fall season. For this season, we are below average in terms of rain Fall.
“You like to have a decent amount of precipitation, at least kind of leading up into the Fall, which we didn’t have this this coming this past season.”
Dr. Kevin Law | West Virginia State Climatologist
Murphy and Petey spent some time at Oglebay Park during the process of putting this report together and found some trees were at their peak in terms of foliage, while others still had green leaves or no leaves at all.
Dr. Law says trees should generally keep their leaves until the beginning of November, but mother nature could have different plans.
As we near the end of Fall, cooler weather and a change in precipitation will be here before we know it.
Dr. Law has a sneak preview of what this winter will bring for West Virginia.
“So, I think we will see perhaps an increase in snowfall. Although it won’t take much to beat it. I think we will see an increase there, especially during the heart of the winter that go into January, February.”
Dr. Kevin Law | West Virginia State Climatologist
Whether you are a fan of Fall or not, this is only the seasonal divide between Summer and Winter.
Stay tuned to our StormTracker7 Meteorologists as they prepare for the upcoming Winter season.
