The Brown County leaf cam is up, but it will probably be at least another week before the trees it’s focused on start to change colors.
The peak time is usually around the third week in October, but it’s hard to predict, said Aubrey Sitzman, spokeswoman for the Brown County Convention & Visitors Bureau. When the leaves change and how long they stay on the trees all depends on the weather.
Jim Eagleman, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources employee and a naturalist at Brown County State Park, agreed the middle of October is typically when the majority of leaves are colorful. However, he said, it seems to be creeping further into the month.
“Perhaps it’s due to climate change in this part of the world,” Eagleman said. “I can’t say for sure, but the trend has been a little later as it stays warmer through the summer to the fall.”
Lower temperatures and less sunlight shut down photosynthesis, causing leaves to change colors, Eagleman said. Once they change, it’s only a matter of time before they fall off and the picturesque views disappear for another year.
One of the things that can cause a premature leaf drop is a lack of water. Eagleman said he’s not sure how moisture will affect this year’s fall foliage, because there was a lot of rain in the spring and early summer, but the second half of the summer was relatively dry.
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