Mountain Living - September 2015
Forecast for a season full of color this fall!
Recently, two articles pertaining to western North Carolina caught my attention. One had to do with the fall foliage forecast and the other had to do with weather predictions for the 2015-2016 winter.
At Western Carolina University there is a biology professor by the name of Kathy Mathews who has over the years become the prognosticator of the level of fall leaf colors each season. Her predictions are scientifically based on historical climate data in the mountains and over time she has proven herself to be more right than wrong. For the approaching fall season, Professor Mathews is predicting “…2015 to be a season full of color, perhaps the best in a long time.” Her conclusions are based on the dry summer we have experienced that will result in more of the brilliant red color in the leaves when the trees stop the process of photosynthesis and loses the chlorophyll green, revealing a class of pigments knows as anthocyanins that turn the leaf red in color . In our area, the color change usually starts in late September at elevations above 4000 feet and works its way down to the lower elevations. One of the many places to view the show of fall color is the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance beyond Maggie Valley and proceeding towards Waynesville, exiting at 19/23/74, the Smokey Mountain Parkway, a spectacular drive.
The Farmer’s Almanac has been around since 1818 when an editor by the name of David Young began to compile data from sunspot activity, moon phases, tidal actions, and more to develop a unique and very specific mathematical formula to predict weather and suggest ideal planting schedules for farmers. That formula has been a carefully guarded secret for 197 years, but has proven to be remarkably accurate. In the 2016 edition of the Farmer’s Almanac, the formula is predicting a “…super cold winter for the southeastern U.S.” Specifically, for the western North Carolina mountains we can expect a normal December, but a colder, with greater moisture levels, for January through February. Considering the bitterness of last winter here, that is not especially good news.
Lastly, our Junaluska Highlands Community Association Annual Meeting has been set for Saturday, October 17 at 2:00pm at the Gains Auditorium of the Bethea Welcome Center at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. This is a time when the Members of our association gather to hear about what has taken place in the community during the past year and learn of the plans our Board has made for the future. That weekend is also the weekend of the Haywood County Apple Festival in downtown Waynesville, a street festival of music, crafts, and of course, locally grown apples. Details of the Annual Meeting will be mailed out to Members later this month, but mark your calendars now for this weekend to be in Haywood county.
That’s all for now…
Mac









