2009 Ozark Fall Foliage Color Reports
for the North Central Arkansas & South Central Missouri Corridor
Norfork Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, White River, Glade Top Trail, and Ozark National Forest areas

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<   Start Current Report   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Final Report For Fall 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009
Due to strong wind gusts what little color we had is mostly gone. Today and tomorrow our area is again getting more heavy rain. Winds up to 30mph will blow through the area as well. The only color remaining is on individual trees, which has been the condition almost all fall. However, trees with color are not as common as they were.

The forecast for this weekend looks sunny, or mostly sunny. If you have a trip planned for enjoying fall weather you should have a good time. If you have planned a trip strictly for color, you will not see much at all. As we have recommended almost all of Fall of 2009, stick to the roads that put you right next to the trees, up close. You will not see any hillside color. And this weekend will be the last of almost color.

Fall 2009 has had the lowest color levels we have seen in years. We hope that those who still believe in the old Urban Legend that summer rains bring glorious fall colors now understand it just is not true! Right now we are on track for the wettest October on record, perhaps the wettest year on record. While color got off to a good start, two weeks of no sunshine resulted in the dullest hillside foliage we have seen in 10 years.

Thanks to all of you who have visited this site. We'll see you again here in 2010. Let's hope we get sunshine next year!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< End Current Report >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009
Our promise in this report has always been we'll be honest and not try to spin bad foliage into good. After driving 403 miles through our reporting area this weekend we can say that the peak will not be spectacular this year. When seen from the main highways hillsides have gone from some color to mostly dull browns. Photographers if you are planning a trip just for grand peak color on hillsides, this is not the year!

However, there is still nice and enjoyable colors on individual trees. There were many people out on the roads Saturday and Sunday. Those with whom we discussed this year's color agreed it was not real good. Yet they said they still enjoyed getting out, enjoying individual tree colors on the secondary roads. We had the same experience. As mentioned here on Friday, the enjoyable color is in under the trees.

It is not that the peak has past. We just have not had one, and now it is obvious there will not be a true peak this year. We have not had enough sunshine. This year is proof that a lot of rain is not any guarantee of good fall color! Rain started again last night and will continue today. Cloudy weather is in the forecast for the next several days. There will not be the sunshine needed to push dull color into peak color. What started as nice color turned dull.

The area will continue to have nice yellow, red, and orange colors on individual trees for the next 10 days. In the north the Glade Top Trail and Caney Mountain Conservation area will both be good places to get up close to colorful trees. In the South drive State Highway 14 between Allison, Arkansas and Yellville. Take side trips to Blanchard Springs Caverns, Gunner Pool Recreation area, and Barkshed Recreation Area.

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
Color came alive over the last few days. From this point forward the turn will progress quickly. Peak colors will form by the last few days of next week and last into the first few days of November. For those who are not waiting for peak, you can enjoy nice color this weekend. We're close to peak now. The difference in color level between now and peak will not be huge.

How colorful will be peak be this year? On the proverbial scale of 1 to 10, using the most colorful year in our reporting area as the 10, and the worst color year in our reporting area as the 1, this year will be a 7 or 8. We'd be at a solid 10 if the weather had not been so cloudy. We had enough rain, we had the right cool temperatures, but the sunshine needed for that perfect 10 just did not happen. Will it be worth a trip for the color?

It depends on what activities you enjoy. Readers following this report tend to be two types - those who care only about the peak color quality, and those who enjoy fall color while engaged in other outdoor activities, regardless of color quality level.

For those who are in pursuit of just color, we'll predict as follows: Hillside color from a distance, such as when driving the major highways at 55mph, will be okay, but not spectacular. For more color thrill you'll need to get up close to the trees, which means driving secondary roads. You will also find the color you seek in the understory. "Color blasts" will happen more from individual trees, or small groups of colorful trees, than from entire hillsides. For this group we recommend traveling to the area late next week and next weekend.

For those who want to sightsee, hike, fish, and otherwise enjoy fall color while engaged in outside activities, you'll enjoy fall colors from now through the first few days of November. For best color get in under the trees or close up to hillsides, especially on the secondary and back roads. Boating the lakes and rivers will also put you into color.

For both groups we recommend the Glade Top Trail in the northern part of our reporting area, and the Sylamore District of the Ozark National Forest in the south. For the Sylamore area run either Highway 5, Highway 14, or Highway 341. If you are planning on a drive down the Glade Top don't wait past next weekend. If you are planning on a drive in the southern sections of our reporting area, don't wait past November 3th.

Finally the caveat we issue each year at this point. Once color is near, or at peak, a storm can blow major amounts of color off the trees in an hour. It is the wind, not the rain, that destroys color in a storm. In fact foliage looks very nice when wet, even on a gloomy day. If a warm front moves in the color turn will come to a halt and the peak will not form past current color intensity. The long-term forecast does not look bad at all. Thus, unless the weather takes an unexpected turn next week, we expect a nice peak.

Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
The right temperature conditions continue, but without sunshine. Rain has fallen over the area in 10 out of the last 11 days. As a result of this cloudy weather the color turn remains slow. The forecast is for partly sunny weather this weekend, and early next week, so we have hopes that the color turn will soon accelerate. We are two weeks away from the normal peak, so there is still a chance for grand color.

You will see quite a bit of striking color on individual trees, or on small groups of trees. Driving down the secondary roads is not disappointing. While not the blaze of peak color we all enjoy, you'll definitely see fall colors anywhere within our reporting area. At this stage of the turn we recommend not driving the main highways. Instead take the back roads and secondary roads through forest areas. This will put you right on top of understory foliage, which right now is beautiful. Both the Glade Top Trail and the Ozark National Forest have great roads for peeping at the understory colors.

Tuesday Weather Update: The cool weather needed for triggering good fall color is here. According to area weather forecasts this cool weather should continue for several more days. However, 7 of the last 8 days have been rainy which means we are not getting the sunshine needed for an awesome color display. The forecast calls for even more rain this week. Fortunately it is still early in the color turn. If we get a few days of sunshine late this week and next week, we still stand a good chance for grand color. If the turn continues at it's current rate, peak happen early in the last week of October.

Right now enjoyable levels of color are showing in all areas of our reporting area. If you need to make your trip this weekend, or next week, and can't make it for the peak, you'll still enjoy nice color. Color along state Highway 14 in Arkansas from Yellville to Mountain View is shaping up very nicely. Visit Buffalo Point Park and go down to the river. Beautiful orange color is forming on the bluffs above the water.

Monday, October 12, 2009
( To ensure you are reading the latest report please click your browser's Refresh or Reload button! )
We drove a little over 400 miles through our reporting area this weekend. The color turn has truly begun! This is the earliest in the year we have ever seen the change begin. If the turn continues at this rate, peak will be nearly two weeks early. Only time will tell.

While 95% of all trees are still green, a few trees are in peak color now. This is true for our entire reporting area, which north to south is Ava, Missouri to Mountain View, Arkansas. You will see some nice color, mostly in the understory and from the individual trees.

A most peculiar occurrence is that the American Smoke Trees, our personal favorite fall foliage tree, have already not only turned color, but dropped all their leaves and are standing 100% bare. This is way too early for that to happen. Smokes stand bare in our entire reporting area. The leaves under the trees show very little color. It appears the leaves went from green to yellow, then dropped, which is not normal. We suspect there is just too much water in the soil for them, but don't know.

The current predominant color is red. You'll see individual trees in brilliant reds, usually gum trees. Dogwoods are a nice deep red this year and are in peak color now through the next week. Sumac in its bright scarlet red is in peak, you'll see it all along the roads. Yellow on hickory and maple is starting to show. Creeper vine ( which many mistake as poison ivy) has also turned red.

In all areas wildflowers remain in bloom. You'll see blue aster, white aster, blue sage, yellow Canadian golden rod, yellow primrose, and several other wildflower blooms.

A cold front moved in this weekend, and the area forecast is for at least three days of cloudy weather. This is not going to help our foliage turn! However, if the weather stays cool, and the sun shines again, we could well have the spectacular foliage we all want to see. If the weather warms, which it has several times in the past this time of year, colors will become somewhat dull.

As far as predicting the peak at this point, that is impossible to do because of the early beginning of the color turn. Peak could be here early, or it could be normal. It depends on the weather. If you have to pick trip dates now, your best bet will be the last few days of October. But if you can, wait another week, then check back here.

Special Conditions Notice: Record Rainfall Does NOT Necessarily Mean Record Foliage
This year you are going to hear from many sources that because the Ozarks had record rainfalls this past summer, the foliage displays will be the best seen in many years. Somehow this false belief has obtained Urban Legend status, and therefore many take it as the Gospel Truth. Don't believe it!

While it is very true that trees grow healthier leaves during non-drought years, the rain itself has little to do with color change. While healthy leaves can turn into stronger colors, rainfall is only part of the formula required for record color. The primary environmental requirements for record fall foliage color are always temperature and sunshine levels, not just rainfall levels. It takes all three conditions to generate a grand fall color display.

Regardless of how much rain has fallen, we still need to have cool sunny days followed by even cooler nights. It takes sunny days with temperatures in the 50's, then cooler nights with temperatures in the lower 40's to produce strong color. The temperature "spread" between day and night temperatures needs to be at least 10 degrees, and 15 degrees is better. Frost does NOT help develop strong color. If leaves freeze hard the chemical process of color change stops, and leaves simply turn brown.

If a cold front moves in about the middle of October it will force an early color change. ( We have seen this happen several times over the years. ) If a warm front then moves in behind the cold front, which also normally happens, the color display will be slowed and will NOT be fantastic, no matter how much rain fell during the summer months. If we have several days of cloudy weather, then strong color will NOT develop, no matter what temperatures and rainfall have been.

There is no possible way to predict how good or bad a fall foliage display will be in any given year. Fall foliage tourism business is big business in areas having fall color displays. In some locations fall foliage business amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. Thus it pays to report with positive spin on foliage conditions. We promise to never do that!

Finally, common sense is in order. A tree leaf develops color in the fall only because the green color fades away. Chlorophyll is what makes a leaf green. The beautiful colors we enjoy during fall foliage are in the leaf all year. They become visible only when Chlorophyll drains out of the leaf. To learn more about this process read our Feature Article Ozark Foliage Color - What Makes It Happen?