It’s the time of year when the breeze is a bit more brisk and the nights cooler that temperature change plus the wet spring and summer could mean a great year for fall foliage.
People often think of New England and the northern Great Lake states as the best places to see good fall foliage, but Manager Justine Gartner with the state Forestry Division said don’t discount Missouri.
"They’re further north than we are, so they’re fall color change is before us," she said. "So if your travel schedule doesn’t allow you to get out and do your fall color tour or your fall color trip in September and maybe you want to do it in October, well, Missouri is an idea place to do that."
The depth of color depends on the weather.
"Color really depends on having those nice, pretty, warm days and those real sharp, crisp nights that contrast combined with shorter days tells the tree it’s time to shut down it’s time to quit making food so the chlorophyll starts to dissolve and go away and when it does that then you get those nice pretty reds and pinks and yellows that show through and that gives you the pretty fall color that you need," Gartner said.
The northern parts of the state could start seeing good color next week, Mid-Missouri by the 15 th and the south by the 25 th .