Fall foliage in Florida

Florida’s fall color is subtle and confined mainly to the Panhandle. Red maple, sweetgum, black gum and cypress along the Apalachicola and Suwannee rivers and in the Torreya uplands color through November, usually strongest around Tallahassee in the second half of the month. Hardwood hammocks in the center of the state show a little change in December. South of Lake Okeechobee there is no foliage season. Where color exists it is along water, and cypress carries most of it.

Those are the months when color is present somewhere in Florida, from its highest ground to its lowest. Any one location changes over a much shorter period than that.

Why the timing shifts from year to year

Shortening days start the process, so most places in Florida change at close to their usual time each year. Within the state, elevation and latitude account for most of the difference: higher and more northern ground generally changes first, and lower, sheltered ground last. Weather has more effect on how strong the color is than on when it appears. Cool nights and sunny days favor the reds, a dry summer mutes them, and a hard freeze or a windstorm can strip a slope in a day. What determines the timing goes through this in detail.

Nearby states

Fall color does not follow state lines. Florida borders:

• Alabama fall foliage
• Georgia fall foliage

Timing for a specific place

This page describes a whole state, which is about as precise as a season can be described in words. Conditions at one overlook on one weekend are a narrower question, and that is the one Fallcast answers: an expected period of color for a specific location, with a confidence attached, updated through the season as the trees change. It is coming to iPhone this fall.

Questions, or somewhere in Florida you would like covered? Write to fallcastapp@gmail.com.