Fall foliage in New England starts early this year NBC Boston [Video]

Fall foliage is a New England staple. It’s estimated that 3.6 million tourists from across the globe visit Vermont alone for a front row seat to the beautiful colors!

But with this year’s hot and dry weather, leaf peepers may need to get a head start if they hope to see any color at all. 

Andy Finton, an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts, said the season is starting to do some crazy things.

“A lot of these trees are early. They’re turning colors early, sometimes not as brilliant as they normally would. The red maples are not turning red right now, they’re turning brown. They’re done,” said Finton. “The leaves are saying hey we can’t hang on any longer. The trees are saying let’s call it quits for the year.”

He knows that forests are New England’s “character.” With little rain and heat stressed trees, he said the …