Fall colors are in the forecast this weekend.


What You Need To Know

  • Parts of the Adirondacks have gone past week

  • Much of the Adirondacks and Catskills are seeing peak color

  • Rain and cooler temperatures may hamper outdoor leaf peeping activities this weekend

The spectacular fall color is beginning to sprinkled in across NYS, but may seem less vibrant compared to past years due to warmer than average temperatures and a wet summer.

After a much needed week off that consisted of a sunrise hike, breakfast above the clouds on Whiteface mountain, and a few more hikes featuring near peak color, I'm back!

Sunrise on Cobble Lookout, October 7. (Meteorologist Ryan Finn)

Let's dive in to who will see the best foliage heading into the weekend. 

The Adirondacks

While most of the Adirondacks are seeing peak color, areas up near Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake are past peak and seeing leaf drop.

Mount Arab in Tupper Lake, N.Y. (Alaina Marie)
Central Adirondacks in N.Y. (Chris Mariano)
adk
Southern Adirondacks in Lake Pleasant, N.Y. (Kent Smith)

The Catskills and Hudson Valley

Another hot spot right now for fall color is the Catskills. The mid and lower Hudson Valley aren't quite there yet, but are definitely showing some change.

The Catskills, NY. (Shilpitha Holla)
The Catskills Notch Lake, N.Y. (Robin Lynn)
Sullivan County White Lake, N.Y. (Justin Gray)
Minnewaska State Park in N.Y. (Shanyn Vetere)

The Capital and Saratoga Region

All of eastern New York is showing some color, but the hills outside of Albany and Saratoga are a little more vibrant right now.

thacher
John Boyd Thacher State Park, N.Y. (Alexander Meyers)

Central New York and the Finger Lakes

Color has been super slow to develop across much of central New York, but if you head north and east of Syracuse there is vibrant color to be seen this weekend.

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Central parts of the state in Erieville, N.Y. (Ken Harris)
taug
Taughannock Falls State Park, N.Y. (Instagram: @Aidenmedia)

Western New York

The hot spot for foliage this weekend in western New York will be across Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County with near peak foliage. Elsewhere leaves are 40 to 60 percent changed.

letch
Letchworth State Park, N.Y. (Megan Joyce)

If you have a vacation day to burn you might want to use it Friday because this weekend's weather doesn't look the best for outdoor activities.

With that being said there will be dry-time to get outside. Saturday looks wet across western N.Y., central N.Y., and the Adirondacks with rain moving into eastern NY later in the day.

Sunday will be a drier day, but areas east and southeast of Lake Ontario will see more clouds and lake effect showers.

It will be windy and much cooler across the state with highs mostly in the 40s/50s.

The best weather Sunday will be found across the mid and lower Hudson Valley.

As always, the best part of this blog is the pictures we receive to update conditions from around the state, so please share any and all photos from around NYS!