BUFALO, N.Y. — Last week there were reports of leaves just beginning to change across a few regions of New York.
Now this week's update includes almost the entire state.
In the latest update of the ILOVENY Fall Foliage Map for Sept. 21through Sept. 27, almost the entire state is starting to see their location fall colors emerge with notable color changes expected across portions of the Adirondacks and Catskills this week.
The only areas that are exceptions are Niagara Falls, downstate near New York City, and Long Island. That's no surprise as these locations are slightly lower in elevation and closer to larger bodies of water and/or metro areas.
The typical peak for fall colors in the greater Buffalo area is usually sometime in early November. For the Southern Tier, it's late October.
But with the first sign of fall colors in the for Western New York arriving about a week ahead of schedule, this could mean the region experiences peak fall color in late October. Even so, the future forecast can play a still play a role in how quickly leaves change. Unseasonably cool nights early on could accelerate the process while warmer days can allow it to lag.
ILOVENY.COM's map is made through the culmination of visual reports from volunteer spotters and archived data from previous years.