Warmer temperatures, drier weather this year causes leaves to fall early

Fall colors are showing up early this year.

The change isn’t just about Mother Nature’s timing as much as it is the stress that Mother Nature put the trees through.

“It’s been a very dry summer in Western Pennsylvania. We had a really wet June, but July, August and the first half of September have been very dry and what that does is it puts trees into a drought stress and causes them to drop their leaves a little early and we don’t get as many colors as we might expect,” Penn State University Horticulture Educator Glen Bupp said.

Leaves change naturally on their own, but it’s the weather that triggers the process, sort of like an alarm clock.

“That process has already started and really the process started even before the color starts, so once that process starts, it doesn’t come back, and drought can start that process early,” said Bupp.

Which means leaves have less chlorophyll, a green pigment that’s the lifeline for plants, and their true colors don’t come out.

“I’d say less vibrant really more gold brown tan and less oranges and reds that we like with our maples thats bc that dry weather keeps photosynthesis from happening and the sugars that are produced that help make those colors aren’t made at the end of the year so the plants just don’t have it in them to produce those colors,” said Bupp.

While the recent rains may give the leaves that haven’t started changing a chance to show off, expect the rest to drop early, giving you a head start on raking, blowing and bagging.

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