Seasons Change in Southwest Virginia

As the seasons sweep through southwest Virginia, the lush summer landscape transforms, fading into fall and winter.

From October 4 to December 6, 2025, the forests in this animation turn from green to orange to brown before being blanketed by white snow. The animation is composed of images from Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS), a NASA product that combines imagery from the NASA/USGS Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites and the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2A, 2B, and 2C satellites.

The animation showcases the Valley and Ridge province of the Appalachian Mountains, named for its characteristic parallel ridges and valleys. When the supercontinent Pangea formed, the region was compressed, one of the factors producing this folded landscape.

The region’s forests, largely deciduous, undergo color change in the fall before shedding their leaves. Certain species change color earlier, while others lose their green pigment later in the season. Because of Virginia’s rich tree diversity—nearly 100 species of deciduous trees are native to the state—the landscape becomes a patchwork of shifting colors.