What's With the Fall Foliage

Fall is just a mere few days away. For some of you, the fall celebration has been ongoing since August. I'm a summer girl, so I hold off celebrating fall until the season officially begins on September 23rd!

Also, unpopular opinion, I'm not a PSL girl. I also can't remember the last time I bought a Starbucks.

Time to carry on. When you think of fall, what comes to mind? Fall foliage, although I'm sure cooler temperatures are right up there.

Predicting when the leaves change colors is not an exact science, however, ballpark dates give us a timeframe of when to expect peak fall foliage. I will be sharing those dates with you!

Why do leaves change color?

It all boils down to photosynthesis and chlorophyll. Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants convert sunlight into food. Chlorophyll is a key component in the conversion and gives trees the green color from spring through summer.

The production of chlorophyll comes to a halt in the fall, and the leaves begin to change colors due to other pigments within the leaves. If it weren't for chlorophyll, trees would appear gold, red, orange, and brown all year round.

What begins this change from green to vibrant color? The length of the night plays an important role. Shorter day length causes the leaves to close off cells containing their food. As a response, the leaf begins to change colors.

The role of weather

If you're hoping for a brilliant fall color, the best conditions would be warm, sunny days, while at night it's cool but not freezing. This allows the leaves to get some food while slowly shutting off the cells.

You also want moist soils as summer droughts can cause the trees to lose their trees prematurely.

Given the dry spell and drought throughout the summer, I have concern about how brilliant our fall color will be this year. The dryness has already caused some leaves to fall early. What we have experienced is warmer days and cooler nights, which will hopefully offset the dryness.

Finally, wind plays a role. Last year, I remember planning a day trip to a winery in Defiance during the peak fall color season. Unfortunately, strong winds ripped all the leaves from the trees, turning the landscape barren instead of brilliant orange and yellow.

When will our leaves change color?

Typically, we see our peak fall color by the end of October and early November. Again, that can vary from year to year, depending on the weather conditions. There is a site that tracks and predicts fall color for not just Missouri, but the entire U.S.

Bookmark this because you will want to visit this website frequently and share with friends, the Smoky Mountains Fall Foliage Map.

There is a handy slider tool at the bottom you can use to view the latest prediction. For Missouri and Illinois, it's showing that fall color will be near peak by October 30th, with its peak around November 6th.

Conversely, you can track when leaves turn green again using the Status of Spring Website.