Welcome to our New England Fall Foliage Tracker, the map we'll be updating frequently as more colors begin to show. We suggest that you bookmark this page and check back frequently to watch as the color change overspreads the area. If the map hasn't seemed to change, please refresh the page to update the graphic. So far, way too soon to see any color change, but when we do, this New England fall foliage tracker map will be where to check it out.

FALL'S USUAL WEEK OR TWO LONG VIEWING WINDOW IS CLOSING EARLIER THIS YEAR

Never have we seen peak come so early or dissipate so quickly as we have this year. As can be seen in our New England fall foliage peak map, much of Vermont is at peak now, however, in the northeast section of the state and western New Hampshire, rains and winds have stripped many the trees of their crisp, bright colors. Both northern Maine and New Hampshire are now past peak. Peak is moving more slowly into Connecticut and Massachusetts, but came for a very short time in the middle of Massachusetts. Rhode Island is at peak now, as is the the northwestern and eastern portion of Connecticut. For those accustomed to peak in mid-October, there may still be some color, but not as much as in years past. It's still gorgeous, but we have had cloudy skies with rain in northern New England, which is what pushed Maine and New Hampshire past peak so early.

If you've been holding off, you may want to make your plans to come up sooner rather than later. If you have not yet booked a room, we suggest that you do so as soon as possible. Competition for places to stay is fierce during the fall foliage season. You can use the table to the right to click on the state of your choice, then on the town in which you'd like to stay. You can then see all of the hotels available in the city or town of your choice.

The color quality is between Very Good and Excellent. Reds always come first and it has been no different this year. The yellows are no following and the golds will be sharpening the colors even more in many areas.

WEATHER: Wolcott, Vermont 31 degrees Fahrenheit at 7:30 AM. Skies in northern Vermont are cloudy with a light drizzle, but heavier rain may be on the way late this afternoon.

DAILY REPORT: Peak colors are spreading quickly through all of New England. The New England fall foliage peak map will tell you the best spots to go now, but we urge you to hurry.

BOOK A ROOM IN NEW ENGLAND NOW!
Click on any of the states below to go to a list of towns. Select a town and choose an accommodation.
CONNECTICUT MAINE MASSACHUSETTS	NEW HAMPSHIRE RHODE ISLAND VERMONT

As for Mother Nature and her stinginess with the length of the season, we wrote a special poem decrying her penurious ways this year.

Barring any hurricanes making their way up the coast and into New England, we should have quite a season. As you'll learn on our Why and How Leaves Change Color Page, the change can occur in strange ways and is not uni-directional. While for the most part it does move from North to South, in Massachusetts, for instance, it's more apt to change from the northwest corner and move eastward to the southeast shoreline.

In our house, fall and winter clothing have started to make their way out of the plastic bags, moth-balled bags, and onto closet shelves, hangers and dresser drawers. The number of blankets will begin to increase and our favorite down comforter and feather beds are soon to follow. The blankets and comforters are like shields protecting us from the cold, but wonderfully scented color evolution. We find that we sleep better at night when it gets really cold, and we've had a few nights down in the 30s. The coziness of a nice warm bed is intoxicating. Getting out of it and racing to close the windows in the morning is a lot les comforting.

Thanks for stopping by. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. We'd love to hear from you. Send us an email at jim.hyde@newenglandtimes.com. We answer all emails personally--we don't believe in autoresponders or canned messages--and I'll do my level best to reply to you promptly.