Blame the salting of Irene for the "dead" trees along the coast.

Earlier this week, as I was driving in Nahant, I notice that all of the trees that lined the road along the ocean had all lost their leaves or they were all brown. In fact the scene looked more like November than mid September.  It is way too soon for autumn to strike to coastal areas of New England, let alone peak in the far northern reaches of Vermont and NH is still 2 weeks away.

Tree's in Swampscott, MA  mostly "dead"

Then, I drove along the coast of Swampscott and Lynn 2 days later and noticed the same thing, that all of the trees immediately along the coastline have all lost their leaves or are all brown, with the same type of trees just 100 yards inland, green and vibrant as ever with no hint of a change in color. In some instances the leaves facing the ocean were brown the obverse sides are still green.

The left side trees face the ocean, whereas the ones to the right are blocked by the front trees away from the ocean.

This got me thinking, why?  Then a question was posed to me if Irene's wind could have damaged the trees.  After some Q & A's I finally got an answer that may suit the curious.

After about 12 hours of strong 40 - 60 mph wind gusts coming in directly off the ocean with significant sea spray. A layer of salt water encrusted on the leaves of the tree's closest to the coastline.   Salt then acts to draw out the moisture from the deciduous tree leaves and hence after a few weeks will kill the leaves.

The protected buds that are on the trees for next spring are designed to withstand the harsh winter climate ahead and this salting should have no effects next year.