An unusually high incidence of red oak decline and death which occurred in 1979 in the Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina, was probably the result of a stress condition initiated in 1963 by lower than normal February temperatures and subsequently aggravated by an unusual series of extremely dry summers starting in 1968 and worsening in 1973-78. These conditions caused irreversible damage to some trees on upper slopes and many trees died. Little subsequent decline or death has occurred among surviving trees.