[Proud90sKid]

I have been looking at weather models and have noticed that the atmosphere has changed to a much more autumnal state across much of the US, non-tropical Atlantic, and Europe. Fall is here. Football is in full swing, the hurricane season is near (just past) the climatological peak, and the severe weather in the midwest has “dried up” as a result of increased stability in the atmosphere over much of the CONUS. I can see it is getting colder (long streaks of 40 degree lows in parts of Colorado are in the forecast- colder than our winter). In Florida, we are still having temperatures in the 80s, only recently down from days in the 90s just last week. There is little fall foliage to speak of. Nevertheless, even with the summer-like heat(and even summer like afternoon showers), I know of exactly one tree that has somehow gotten the message that it is fall. One tree a few miles away has fall colors. But it is of the brownish hue, no red. I have also noticed a slightly increased amount of leaves on the ground. Most people would not notice if they werent paying attention.

I have never seen proper fall. For the most part, spring and fall happen at the same time here. We essentially have two seasons: warm and rainy, and cool and dry. The old leaves seem to fully fall off at the same time the new leaves are emerging.

I have seen spectacular fall pictures though. Is that the norm outside the deep south or is that just in certain places like Blue Ridge Mountains? When does the color start to change? Is there yellowing even before the September equinox? Even in August? Is it rapid? Is it depressing to see or is it as beautiful as the pictures suggest?

Seasons:

Astronomical fall: September equinox to December solstice
Meteorological fall: September 1- Nov 30(this is closer to approximating the fall weather period than the traditional astronomical definition)
Solar(Celtic) fall: August 1- October 31(the brightest months are May, June, and July- not including August even though that is traditionally summer in the US). The darkest are Nov, Dec, Jan (not including February, which is considered spring in this system). Halloween began as a pagan celebration of fall turning into winter.