KUSA — If you had to scrape snow off your car Sunday, you probably had to brush off the leaves, too. Fall colors are suddenly at our feet, though still lingering in some trees after Sunday’s snow and temperature drop.
It got us wondering about the health of the trees across the metro area. Denver City Forester Rob Davis said he worries about the trees anytime an early season snowstorm is in the forecast.
“There is that risk this time of year, not only from snow load, but dramatic Colorado temperature changes,” Davis said.
After a cold, snowy Sunday, temperatures dipped into the teens Monday morning. Despite the October cold snap, Davis said Denver’s trees lucked out.
“I don’t think it’s going to be one of those cold drops that will do as much damage as we saw in the past,” Davis said.
On Nov. 11, 2014, temperatures in Denver were hovering in the mid-60s. The temperature dropped almost 50 degrees overnight and reached the single digits the following day. The city stayed cold for several days.
“We lost certain species of trees across the whole city,” Davis said. “That next year they were just – they were just done.”
The big difference this year is the fact that the cold temperatures didn’t stick around long enough.
“If somebody had a tree that was in really rough shape, these sort of events that make Colorado a tough place to be a tree, those can tip things in the wrong directions sometimes,” Davis explained. “But I do not think that this last cold event storm is going to have longstanding, major impacts to tree species across Denver.”
If your trees keep their leaves this winter, and they don’t typically do that, Davis said it could be a sign of freeze damage. However, he doesn’t expect that to be a common problem.
“I’m feeling good,” Davis said. “I’d like to think the trees are feeling good, too.”
