Austin isn’t known for its fall foliage. But some years, when the region gets the right combination of rain, cold weather, and shorter days, a certain magic happens. The bald cypress trees, pecans, red oaks and cedar elms get the signal that winter is coming and it’s time to recycle their chlorophyll, subsequently revealing the underlying red, orange and yellow pigment in their leaves.
And this year, in almost-mid-December, that finally happened.
“Right now it's beautiful,” Karl Flocke, a program leader with the Texas A&M Forest Service, said.
In previous years, even ones marked by drought and heat, the leaves changed colors much earlier. Fall foliage typically kicks off in mid-to-late October and peaks by late November.
“What we're seeing this year is we’re just not getting cold enough early enough. We’re just seeing later and later freezing, and later and later fall colors,” Flocke said.
September was the 11th driest month in Austin in 126 years of record keeping. This October was the hottest in Austin since at least 1931. The mean temperature was 78.2 degrees in October, surpassing the previous record of 77 degrees set 93 years ago.
Flocke said the leaves changing colors behind schedule didn’t just happen in Austin, but all over the country. It’s another symptom of climate change, he said.
If you want to catch a glimpse of Austin’s fall foliage, you need to act fast. Flocke said the vibrant colors won’t last long.
