Fall foliage peak in New York Central Park?
 

Hi there, I am looking to visit Central Park when the leaves are at their peak. Any clue when that may be this year? middle of October would you say??

Many thanks to all for replying!

Usually around Columbus Day.

Actually - I'd vote for later. Closer to the Marathon - end of Oct.

The City is considerably warmer than the surrounding areas and Central park usually doens;t change until late Oct or beginning of November. (I know - I can see it out of my LR window.) If you want other parts of the city or the suburbs it's definitely mid October.

But - some people are saying leaves will turn earlier this year due to the weather. I have no idea if this is true of not.

There is a New York State Fall Foliage Report that goes out every wednesday you can check too. Leaf Peepers from different areas of New York report on the colors in their areas.

On my weekly drive up the Hudson Valley this week I noticed quite a bit of color about 2hrs north of NYC - dry weather and cool nights. Some red maples, sugar maples, a few birch, poison ivy, and sumacs are already changing to bright reds in the western Berkshires.

Columbus Day is often peak north of the city but peak in Central Park is usually late Oct. to early Nov. At the bottom on this page are 2 phone numbers to call about foliage info. http://www.ehow.com/how_2117198_new-...tral-park.html

Usually late-October for color changes, though falling leaves can happen before then.

While the daytime temps dropped like lead from the summer mid-90s right after Labor Day, the nighttime temps haven't gone done much. Not enough at least to impact leaf color changes.

The city stays warmer than even 15/miles outside the City limits. Without cold temps the trees will pretty much stay green.

But hey, it's weather and can change without warning.

thanks all, greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to seeing the leaves in Central Park next weekend. Have they begun to change?

No - Central Park is still 100% green, except for a few things that just turn brown and fall off (I just looked out the window again to check). And even the areas outside the city are only beginning to change. You will be too early for bright foliage in Manhattan.

The area just outside the city - Westchester county - is just about what I consider peak right now. Cool nights are forecast for NYC over the next week - mid 40's each night.

You should get some great foliage next weekend in NYC. There will still be lots of green, but the brighter colors (reds and oranges) tend to be the earlier varieties.

Have not been to Westchester - but was in Jersey early this week and the first leaves were just beginning to change. And Manhattan is typically at lest a week and often more later than the suburbs - esp northern ones - since the city is so much warmer. If you're willing to hed uop the Hudson a little you should get good color.

FWIW, I was just in Prospect Park (Brooklyn) this morning: a few large maples have changed to glorious reds and orange but the majority of the trees are still green. (Happily, all the tornado mess has been cleaned up and there are still plenty of deciduous trees left standing!) Should be much more in the swing of things by next weekend!