Higher ground turns first, so the slopes above the road lead the valley by a few days.
No new reports from the ground here this week.
Still greenStartingNearly peakPeakPast peakNo fall canopy we forecastInside the line, each band of elevation is painted on its own date.
Around Gila National Forest Catron County holds most of the forest and is still green today. Grant County, to the south, is 8 days behind. Sierra County, to the east, is 8 days behind.By elevation The forest runs from about 5,408 to 8,557 feet. That’s 8 days of season between the top and the bottom: the high stands peak around Oct 18, the low ground holds until about Oct 26, and the color comes downhill in between. The date at the top of this page is the 6,000 to 7,000 foot band.
8,000–9,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 1816%
7,000–8,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2042%
6,000–7,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2328%
5,000–6,000 ftStill greenpeak Oct 2614%
SepOctNov
Height off 3DEP inside the forest’s own boundary; each band carries the date our model gives that elevation, corrections and all. The percentage is how much of the forest stands in it.
That’s 3 days later than our model alone would say. This September has been running warm, which shifts peak color.
Also named across New Mexico, outside what the canopy read measures here: Quaking Aspen, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Rocky Mountain Maple.
Aspens turn gold in the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains, Gambel oaks go russet and orange at lower elevations, and cottonwoods line the Rio Grande bosque in butter yellow.
This forecast is built from the species that stand here, their elevation and this September’s weather, and corrected in season by cameras, foresters and our own crew. Out here we score it against NASA's satellite record of when the canopy shuts down, read inside each unit’s own boundary: two dates in three land within 12 days of it. How this map is made
