Yellow Pages
The signs are all around us. We pretend we don’t notice, but we feel that cool chill in the early morning air that signifies the changing seasons. Farmers are hurrying to get their crops in before the rains, squirrels are busy gathering their nuts, and our record-breaking summer is coming to a close.
I’m not saying our summer is over. September historically has been one of our sunniest months. But with our first significant rain storm behind us, its now time to think about wetter, cooler weather.
The transition from summer to fall brings us one of our most beautiful natural spectacles, the changing color of leaves from their bright green summer plumage to the orange, reds, yellows and browns of fall. If you’ve ever driven through New England during fall, or even across the Cascades, you know how spectacular the colors can be. If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered how the leaves change their colors, and why some years the colors are more vivid than others.
In doing a little research, I learned that there are three basic pigments in leaves that cause their colors — chlorophyll, which gives leaves their natural green coloring, carotenoids, which produce yellows, oranges and browns, and anthocyanins, which produce those startling bright red leaves.
Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in leaves throughout the year. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn in response to excess plant sugars in the leaf cells.
During the growing season chlorophyll is continually produced and the leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows and then eventually stops. The remaining chlorophyll is destroyed, allowing the carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present to strut their colors.
Weather conditions also play a roll in the amount and the brilliance of the colors each season. A late spring or summer drought can delay fall colors by a week or two. And a warm period during fall can lessen the intensity of the colors. The most favorable conditions for fall colors seem to be a wet spring, sunny summer days, and warm fall days with cool nights. In looking back at our weather this past year, I think this should be a great year for fall colors.
It’s difficult to predict the best time to view autumn colors. Historically the colors change first in New England during the last two weeks of September, and then move south and west. The colors also change first at the cooler higher elevations before moving into the valleys.
Here in the Pacific Northwest the colors begin to change in late September at the higher elevations, and peak in mid-October throughout the area. Last year Carol and I drove the North Cascades Highway over Washington Pass in late September, and the colors were simply spectacular. Other great roads for viewing the colors are Highway 2 over Stevens Pass and the Mount Baker Highway. To find out when fall colors are peaking in a given area, you can call the Forest Service’s Fall Color Hotline at (800) 354-4595.
CoCoRaHS update
In June of 2008 Washington joined the Community Collaborative for Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). Volunteers measure precipitation each day and post their results on the CoCoRaHS web site, http://www.cocorahs.org.
I had the distinction of being the first Washington resident to volunteer. Since then, 601 others have joined, 14 from Skagit County. The goal of the organization is to have a volunteer for each square mile of urban areas in the U.S., so scientists can learn about precipitation patterns throughout the country.
Last month I was appointed Skagit County Coordinator, the first county coordinator to be appointed in Washington. Since then I have been working to recruit volunteers throughout the county, especially in areas east of Mount Vernon where Skagit County gets most of its rainfall and we have the fewest volunteers. With new volunteers in Bow and Concrete, you can begin to see the precipitation patterns across Skagit County, and how they are affected by the rain shadow of the Olympic Peninsula.
In the coming months I will be working to find more volunteers throughout the county so we can get a more complete pictures of our rainfall patterns. We could also use a few more volunteers here in Anacortes, and especially on Guemes Island, where we don’t have any. It takes only a couple of minutes a day to participate. If you’re interested, or know someone who might be, you can get additional information and sign up through the CoCoRaHS web site.
August summary
While August wasn’t quite as warm and sunny as July, I didn’t hear anyone complaining. I recorded 17 days of sunshine for the month, which brings our yearly total to 114, one less than all of 2008. Rainfall was under an inch for the third month in a row. I measured 344 growing degree days in August compared with 410 for July. This brings our total GGD since May 1 to 1140.
