As many of us saw, the last two weeks
in Eau Claire were filled with beautifully colored leaves surrounding campus
and the entire city. However the colorama in Eau Claire and the rest of the
state, was short lived compared to usual. Travel Wisconsin currently released
its fall color report (see link below) and the statistics show that with the
exception of 5 counties near the southern portion of the state, the rest of Wisconsin
has reached its peak for color this year; a handful of counties are even past
peak. Usually, leaves reach their peak color during the last week in October
and the first weeks of November, so this is a rare sight to see. As mentioned
in my blog on September 10th, 2012, the drought has had major
impacts on color change, which we have seen first-hand here in Wisconsin. With
a lack of water for the trees, leaves find it much harder to produce the
carbohydrates they need to grow. Leaves use carbohydrates to produce chlorophyll,
which gives leaves their color. In turn, without carbohydrates, leaves have a
short lived colorama, or many trees lose their leaves before they have a chance
to change color. Another factor that impacts the colorama of fall is of course
wind, which Eau Claire has seen a lot of lately. Although the colorama has
reached its peak for most of the state, it’s safe to say that the couple of
weeks that we got to experience the leaves changing color here in Eau Claire
was a beautiful sight to see.
See the link below for more
information on the fall color report!
Fall Color Report- Travel Wisconsin
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