Fall colors have started to trend later in Minnesota as September temps warm from historical averages

A warmer September brought on delayed fall colors for much of the state but trends show this may be the "new normal" in Minnesota.

DNR Spokesperson Sara Berhow says the weather over the past couple of years has trended warmer meaning seeing the first fall colors in mid to late-October could become more common.

"These weather patterns aren't lining up with what they have historically," says Berhow. "And I know September is a month where average temperature is going up quite a bit in Minnesota. You know, we might need to wait a few years and kind of see what this new normal is."

The DNR say warm temperatures held back fall colors that are just now on full display for the first time across large swaths of the state.

Berhow says now that things will cool down, we're in for a colorful show statewide.

"Yeah, so we're a little bit behind where we were last year," explains Berhow. "Maples are some of the trees that turn a little bit earlier. Temperatures cool, usually sooner in the northern part of the state than the southern part of the state. Oak trees that are more common in central and southern Minnesota are some of the later trees to turn colors."

The fall color finder from the DNR website shows the northern half of Minnesota (St. Cloud and north) is now at peak color. West and south-central parts of the state are just behind that, with southeast Minnesota and areas around the Twin Cities the slowest to turn. There are just a couple of small pockets in far northeast Minnesota that have gotten to "past peak".

She says its unlikely that this past summer's drought played much of a role in the late colors and that this year's colors emerged at the almost the same time as they did in 2019 which happened to be a very wet year.

The data does show a warming month across the state. Minnesota's Assistant State Climatologist Peter Boulay says September has consistently stayed warmer over the last couple of years.

"We've seen warmer temperatures overall, but if you start looking into the details, September is driving it the most," Boulay explained. "We're seeing the most changes in September, October is kind of flat, it hasn't changed a whole lot. We've had some pretty cold Octobers in recent years and then November's been warmer than normal overall too."

In 2024, Minnesota's September was the warmest and driest on record, with an average temperature of 70.4 degrees at MSP Airport. That was 6.9 degrees above normal.