Foliage is beginning to come on strong over far northwestern sections of Maine and will only increase in intensity during the upcoming weeks.   Maine is such a large state, if you wanted to view peak foliage you could drive around and do so for almost an entire month!   While peak foliage season won’t arrive at the coast for 2 to 3 more weeks, it’s already happening across the highest mountains.  

 

I generally like to see foliage when we are at about 50% color, I find by the time “peak” is occurring much of the best color is already gone and there is significant leaf drop. The map below is from the Foliage Network.com and I like these maps a lot.

 

The weather pattern continues to be dry and mild to warm for the next week or more as high pressure remains anchored close to New England and blocks any storms from heading our way.

 

If you follow the weather you have probably heard there is going to be an ocean storm developing this weekend and passing by to our east early next week.  Right now the bulk of the models keep this storm far enough away so Maine will not see anything more than a few clouds along the coast Monday. 

 

Just like in the winter, if the storm moves further west, it could spread its cloud and precipitation shield further north and west from the ocean,g but indications are this won’t happen.   The storm will form, but it might not be a very large storm as some thought earlier this week.

 

I would actually love if the storm did move northwest and spread a good healthy amount of rain into the area.  Our last rain was Sunday and wasn’t very significant in many areas.  October is one of our driest months and it appears we will at least begin the month that way.

 

Backing up to our weather today through the weekend, you can expect more sunshine and mild temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.  The air will remain dry and therefore at night it will turn cool and great for sleeping.  There have been some clouds this morning moving southward from a storm over eastern Canada.  These clouds will clear the area and sunshine will tend to increase today.

 

This is the sweet spot of weather when we don’t have a need for air conditioning or heat and we can keep the windows open at night.  Eventually, towards the end of the month there is no doubt that it will get colder as the heating season begins.

 

The rest of the weekend will bring more of the same with much in the way of sunshine, temperatures in the lower 70s and light winds.  Late Sunday, there will be an increase in clouds towards the Cape as the ocean storm begins to move north.

 

If you are headed to see the foliage this weekend you will have to drive into northern areas of New England to view the best show.  However, areas as close as a few miles west of Boston are showing some early color.  With the deep blue nearly cloudless sky as a back drop, you will be able to get some great photos this year of the color.

 

Some of the brightest color comes from the maple trees and those tend to turn early.  There are some maple varieties that have been developed for fall color.  If you are thinking of planting a tree this autumn, ask for Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’, it will provide a brilliant orange-red each fall and get to be as tall as 50 feet.

Monday is the only day next week with questionable amounts of sunshine right now.  I will need to see how the storm is developing this weekend before I know exactly how much sun we will see to start the workweek.  The rest of next week will be sunny and quite warm.  Temperatures will rise into the 70s for several days as humidity levels remain low.  Perfection continues.

This is a great time of year to garden. You can plant a lawn, move and divide perennials and plants trees and shrubs will less chance of failure than in the spring. I was recently at a local nursery and saw some great conifers for the garden. Check out the unique plants you can add to your own landscape in this week’s video.

I’ll be updating the details of the forecast on Twitter at @growingwisdom Please follow me there. Feel free to comment or ask questions too.

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