flash drought

Day length, the normal trigger for fall color, is the same every year. When a tree turns weeks early, drought or damage is usually doing the work, and 2026 has offered plenty of both.

A flash drought can turn a healthy field into a stressed one within days, driven by heat and wind rather than a lack of rain. Farmers and forecasters are racing to catch up.

A dry, hot stretch of weeks has pushed North Carolina into its worst drought in nearly two decades, draining the Triangle region's main reservoirs along the way.