Tree tracker

How it works. The map reads the newest week of NASA satellite greenness for every patch of deciduous and mixed forest in the lower 48: in fall, how far it has gone from its summer green toward winter bare (late August to mid-December); in spring, how far from winter bare toward summer green (mid-December to early July). Below, for your place, satellites have watched the woods turn every fall since 2001. The usual dates come from that record, read from forest only, so lawns and fields do not set the trees’ dates. This year’s dates move a few days earlier or later with the weather: leaves turn on a schedule set mostly by the shortening days, with the pace set by cool weather, so a warm early fall runs late and a cold one runs early.

The words. Turning: color is starting. Near peak: from a few days before the peak to a week after. Past peak: leaves are dropping. In town, trees often turn later than in the woods outside it, and a hard freeze can cut the display short.

For sunrise, the seasons and what people are finding outside near you, see the Field almanac.