JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This blog is written & updated weekly by *me* - Mike Buresh.
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The Atlantic Basin remains very quiet (largely thanks to a strong El Nino)... see & read updates every day at “Talking the Tropics With Mike”. We continue the streak of the latest to have a hurricane develop over the Atlantic Basin in the satellite era - since 1966. Only two years are known to have not ever had at least one Atlantic hurricane - 1907 & 1914. But Mother Nature is all about balancing things out, so the Pacific Basin is having a way above average season.
Jacksonville/NE Florida & SE Georgia are being treated to the first taste of fall! High temps. Thu. Sept. 24th stayed below 80 degrees for the first time since May 12th. And low temps. will fall into the 50s inland Fri. & Sat. nights (morning of 26 & 27th) - for the first time since early June. The average low dips to 60 degrees Oct. 19th... & to 50 degrees Nov. 18th.
Which takes us to fall foliage...
As fall sets in across the country, a new study by Maaltalk has ranked the best states for leaf peeping, with Colorado taking the top spot.
The analysis compared all 50 states across factors including forest coverage, length of peak foliage season, number of scenic drives, national parks, camping friendliness, TripAdvisor reviews, Instagram interest and fall weather.
Colorado tops the list with a total score of 47.72. The state has 13 scenic drives, the most in the study, alongside four national parks. It also records 2,362 Instagram hashtags related to leaf peeping, the highest figure analysed, and a camping-friendliness score of 52.64.
Utah follows with a score of 44.54. Its peak foliage season lasts around 17 days, while the state has five national parks and nine scenic drives. Utah also records the second-highest camping-friendliness score in the study at 55.25.
Idaho ranks third with a score of 44.51. The state has the highest camping-friendliness score at 56.08 and also leads for TripAdvisor leaf-peeping reviews, with 80.16% of relevant reviews mentioning the experience. Its peak season lasts around 17 days.
California takes fourth place with a score of 43.10. It has nine national parks, the most in the study, as well as eight scenic drives and an average of 44 sunshine days between September and November.
West Virginia rounds out the top five with a score of 42.58. Forests cover 78.05% of the state, the third-highest share in the study, while 70.46% of relevant TripAdvisor reviews mention leaf peeping.
New York ranks sixth with a score of 41.78. The state has the longest peak foliage season in the study at 31 days and records 1,234 Instagram hashtags related to leaf peeping. Forests cover 62.62% of the state.
New Hampshire follows with a score of 41.09. It has the highest number of trees per capita in the study at 43,401 and the second-highest forest coverage at 83.04%.
Maine ranks eighth with a score of 38.78. It is the most forested state in the analysis, with 89.06% of its land covered by forest, while its peak season lasts around 17 days.
Oregon takes ninth place with a score of 37.04. The state has 10 scenic drives, the second-highest number in the study, and a camping-friendliness score of 50.43.
Michigan completes the top 10 with a score of 36.19. It records 1,361 Instagram hashtags related to leaf peeping, the second-highest figure in the study, alongside a 17-day peak season and 56.13% forest coverage
From @ExploreFall:
Mark Woods, long time columnist for the Florida Times-Union has announced his retirement. Mark’s final column is * here *. As much as I enjoy writing, I sure do envy Mark’s ability to wonderfully capture & describe the spirit of the moment - usually here at home but sometimes nationally & once in a while internationally. His writing teleports you to where he’s talking about. I texted Mark upon the announcement saying “I hope you understand the impact you have had”. A tough loss for Jacksonville & journalism as a whole. And if you’ve never read his book “Lassoing the Sun” - it’s a great read about the year he spent visiting U.S. National Parks.
A job well done Mark & here’s to no deadlines! :)
