Autumn doesn’t officially start until Sept. 22, but it already looks like the beginning of fall in parts of northern Minnesota.
The U.S. Forest Service’s regional fall color report Tuesday singled out the Chippewa National Forest, where it said the transition already is striking: “Trees show hints of yellow, orange and red. Ash trees are usually the first to change, with a single tree turning color here or there.”
Longtime naturalist Connie Cox of Itasca State Park said the report confirms her observations — and that the changes are “a little early” but not unusual.
Brian Schwingle of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources agreed, adding that some tree species even can show signs of change in midsummer if they are stressed. Severe drought, for example, can kick-start change.
“Plus, when we get cooler weather faster, we will see fall colors develop a little earlier,” the forest health specialist said.
Cox credits “a roller coaster” of weather beginning in late August for the early hints of fall, a key factor in the timing and pace of fall colors. A wet cycle followed by a combination of cooler nights (recent lows in the high 30s and low 40s) and summerlike daytime highs (in the 80s) have black ash and basswood trees yellowing. Pockets of red leaves are popping in some sugar maples, too. And some black cherry trees have hints of pink.
“We are cycling into fall, and it’s making its presence known very well,” she said.
The warmer weather last spring also is a contributor.
