Professional Help: Where to find fall colors

CATHY WURZER: OK, we're going to turn our attention right now to Professional Help. That's our series. And we all need a little help to get through life sometimes from everyday questions to more complex problems we are asking the experts to lend us a hand. Here's Minnesota Now producer Ellen Finn.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ELLEN FINN: Fall is my favorite season-- the smell of the leaves, the slant of the sunlight, that first nip of cold. I know many people feel this way. But if we blink, we can miss it. I remember my dismay once during a particularly busy fall when I found that the tree in my yard was bare. It had lost all of its leaves before I had even taken in the beauty of its bright yellow leaves.

And I don't want that to happen again. That's why I'm getting some professional help to make a point to see the splendor of Minnesota's fall colors in all of their glory. But how? Enter the Minnesota DNR color map.

SARA JOY BERHOW: We have an updated map for when people are looking to make their plans for the coming weekend to get out and see fall colors. People can see where they have changed the most throughout the state and head that direction over the weekend if they want to see the best of fall colors that week.

ELLEN FINN: That's Sarah Joy Berhow. Her job at the DNR is to get people excited about fall colors and direct them where to go. If you've never seen the map, it's surprisingly detailed. She told me how it works.

SARA JOY BERHOW: So we have reporters throughout the state who each week take a look at what they're seeing on the ground around them, and they report in what percentage of the trees look like they have changed colors.

We have 68 reporters for the 73 state parks and recreation areas. And then that data is translated to the map that people can find on the DNR Fall Color Finder. The default that pops up shows areas that are more in the green tones, have had less color change so far.

And then we move into yellows and oranges. And the areas that are noted in red are kind of really at the peak. That's where 75% to 100% of trees have changed leaf color. And then we get to a really dark red kind of a maroon color for when that area is past peak and leaves have started to fall.

ELLEN FINN: As you know it's been a very warm and dry September and beginning of October. How much is that affecting the timeline of our leaves changing colors?

SARA JOY BERHOW: So the two main factors that drive when the color change happens are diminishing hours of daylight. And because that doesn't change from year to year, we know that's a strong factor, but it doesn't vary from year to year. The trees are sort of signaled to go into winterization mode and slow down the production of chlorophyll once we get cooler temperatures.

When there are days that are warm and sunny in the afternoon but cool overnight, that tells trees it's time to get ready for winter. And we had a pretty warm September, as many people have been talking about.

So in years where we have warmer than average temperatures into the fall season, that does sometimes delay those colors a little bit. We haven't seen in past years that drought or dry conditions change the timing of the fall colors as much as temperatures do.

ELLEN FINN: So how does this year measure up?

SARA JOY BERHOW: So we're not looking greatly different this year, given the weather conditions that we're experiencing.

ELLEN FINN: I see. And does drought affect the vibrancy of the colors?

SARA JOY BERHOW: It can. I know we talked about that a lot last year because last year was the third year in a row, which we'd had a really dry growing season. 2024 has been a little bit different because we did have really wet weather early in the summer, like late spring into early summer.

So we didn't have a completely dry growing season. We've just had dry weather, like September was pretty dry. And so we do sometimes see if trees are really stressed that they may just drop their leaves earlier. So when we get to that peak point, there may be some trees that have just already dropped their leaves.

So the overall, when you look at, a larger stand of trees or a park or a bigger area, it may look less vibrant because there could be some of those stressed trees that drop their leaves early.

We also had a sort of interesting scenario this year that my colleagues, who are forest health experts, say that because we had really wet weather in early summer, there are some trees, particularly in the Aspen family-- so aspens, birches, poplar trees, those trees that turn really bright yellow in the fall-- some of those trees have some fungal leaf disease because of the wet weather earlier in the summer. So we may not see quite as much of the bright yellows this fall.

ELLEN FINN: Oh, those are my favorite, the bright yellows on the birch. Do you have a favorite tree, Sara, to see change colors?

SARA JOY BERHOW: Oh, gosh. It's hard to pick a favorite. The maples, I think, are really beautiful that turn the bright red, sometimes a little bit orange. But honestly, the favorite is areas that have a mix of trees so you get some of everything.

And you get the mix of the yellow and the red oaks are sometimes on the later end for turning colors, and oaks are usually turned kind of a darker red kind of maroon, maybe even brown-looking. So in those areas where you get a variety of trees, I think that makes for a really beautiful fall color view.

ELLEN FINN: Yeah. Is there any spot that's a favorite of yours to see fall colors?

SARA JOY BERHOW: I like to get out in state parks. And I don't necessarily choose the busy places to go. I know places like the North Shore are really popular, and for good reason. North Shore is absolutely beautiful. It's also very, very busy at this time of the year.

So if people are looking for a quieter place to go, I think Lake Maria State Park is a great option. I also really like Frontenac State Park. You get a mix of trees and prairie, so that's a really beautiful place to visit as well.

ELLEN FINN: Sara said that as long as you're aware of your surroundings outside, you're bound to catch beautiful fall colors wherever you are. To watch the progress of the changing leaves and find a beautiful landscape beyond your backyard, check out the DNR Fall Color Map online. For this episode of Professional Help, I'm Ellen Finn.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

And by the way, for more, you can always check out mprnews.org. Support comes from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Seats for the 2024 distinguished Carlson lecture featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci are full but may become available. You can check northrop.umn.edu for updates.