Day: October 3, 2010

It is time for the fall foliage display of color to begin. California foliage starts around mid-to-late October in the higher elevations such as Mammoth Lakes, and you can also see the change at lower elevations into early November most seasons.

John Poimiroo, expert on fall foliage in California, says that you can track the foliage display from the cold mountain tops, and watch the color changes on the trees as the temps drop. Moving down the mountains as the colder weather begins to reach the lower elevations, you can see nature’s hand at work with demarcations. The changes usually begin right around now (early October) in Mammoth and the High Sierras.

For those seeking the feel of a chill, Southern California survived its first autumn heat spell. It wasn’t just the record-breaking 113 degree temps that had L.A. in fits. It was the humidity that followed. At the launch of Queen Mary’s “Dark Harbor” Halloween attraction in Long Beach, the sky literally broke loose with thunder, lightening, and a rain burst.

October is traditionally the time in which residents cross their fingers and hope for no lightening storms that can cause uncontrollable wildfires in the fall.  So far so good as the lightening caused only a few small fires around the California that were extinguished.

Now to plan for Halloween–you are in for a treat. There are more mazes, corn fields, hayride haunts, haunted houses, and theme park scares than ever before. It is a year in which the veil becomes thinner and spirits can be seen better. If you haven’t checked your calendar, get busy making plans for Halloween now. It is happening–and it’s going fast!