Fall is the best time of the year for some of us. Western parts of Virginia and Maryland are already awash in vibrant colors, but the states’ forestry officials said this year, with a hotter than average summer, it’s been particularly difficult to predict the color change in foliage.
“We really thought it was going to be early because so many trees were stressed out and starting to color very early, like in September,” said Ellen Powell, conservation education coordinator at the Virginia Department of Forestry. “But it seems that things sort of just ground to a halt and stayed where they were for a while, and at this point, we’re not very far off the average timing.”
Powell said in Virginia, areas bordering West Virginia and in the state’s southwest are experiencing peak foliage conditions…