Fall leaves are starting to change
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - October brings a change in the air. The nights are cooler and the days are shorter. This all starts to bring a change of color to our leaves.
Cheryl Beck with the Caribou-Targhee National Forest says she has seen this already happen in the high country.
"Lake Charles. Bloomington Lake. What else? McCoy Creek. Crow Creek. Down by Montpelier. Soda Springs, Tin Cup Highway. Gorgeous. Get out there. I mean, this is why we have these beautiful days."
It's all within the anatomy of the tree.
The vibrant colors occur as the plants start to die out and prepare for winter.
"As the sugars deplete during the day, because of the length of night, you know, there's the decline in intensity of sunlight. You notice the sun's gotten lower in the day and the leaves begin to kind of suck up that sugar to get ready for for fall."
There are plenty of factors that play into the complexity of the fall foliage.
Loss of daylight and heat play key roles into it, but there are several minor features that impact it too.
"Drought is also a factor. And all of eastern Idaho is currently in a drought right now. So the drought also does have an impact on on the leaves as well. Sometimes the colors aren't quite as vibrant as they as they could be," National Weather Service Forecaster Andrew Mckaughan said.
A contributing component to the late arrival of fall is the fact many local areas have not yet had their first fall freeze.
In fact, many towns such as Driggs have yet to see any freezes at all, something that is typical during this time.
The weather doesn't look to change too much in our long-term forecast either.
"We have not dropped below freezing yet. The average date for that to occur typically is September 18th. So obviously it's October six. So we're already a couple of weeks behind that and we may briefly touch freezing in a couple of spots, but does look like it's probably going to stay above that freezing mark here for the upcoming week."
Despite the warmer temperatures, lows are still supposed to get down to the mid to upper 30s over the next week, which means these nice bright yellows could start stretching a little more into the valleys over the next week or two.
