This is the big leaf-peeping weekend, and the color is cooperating. Peak foliage is glowing across Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, New Hampshire's northern White Mountains and Great North Woods, and parts of western Maine, foliage reporter Jim Salge wrote for New England Today. Vermont's Green Mountains hit peak faster than expected, with webcams at Killington and Mount Snow showing color.

The wave is now moving south and downhill. Salge says the biggest shift this weekend should be toward New Hampshire's Monadnock Region, including Peterborough and Keene, and the Massachusetts Berkshires. His pick is North Adams, with the Mohawk Trail on Route 2, the Hairpin Turn and Mount Greylock nearby.

Some places are still green. Burlington and Woodstock, Vermont, Conway and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and Portland and Acadia in Maine should fill in quickly over the weekend, he wrote. The coast is still a bit early. Some of the first-peak areas up north are now showing more yellow, rust and bare branches.

Weather is the wild card. WBUR meteorologist Danielle Noyes calls Saturday "the uncontested pick of the weekend," with sun and highs in the mid-60s. Friday looks pleasant and breezy. On Sunday, moisture from the remnants of Isaias could bring showers and downpours, starting in the west in the afternoon. Monday may start gloomy with lingering showers before improving, she said.

The holiday is Columbus Day, also marked as Indigenous Peoples' Day, on Monday, Oct. 12.

Traffic is the other headache. Salge's advice is to drive early in the day, then spend the afternoon on foot at a farm, trail or small downtown.

What we know: Northern New England is at or past peak, and color is spreading south.
What we don't: How much rain from Isaias reaches New England on Sunday.